Ipoc cleared of money laundering charges

Ipoc International Growth Fund, a Bermuda based entity locked in a three year battle over ownership of a 25.1 per stake, in Megafon, Russia’s third largest mobile phone operator, said on Tuesday it had been cleared of money laundering charges by Russian prosecutors.

Ipoc is in a bitter dispute over the Megafon stake with Alfa, the conglomerate owned by Russian oligarch, Mikhail Fridman. The conflict has generated legal and arbitration proceedings in Switzerland, Bermuda, Russia, Sweden and New York.

Ipoc, which in May was hit by a decision from a Zurich arbitration tribunal that supported Alfa’s claim to a majority of the shares, said the prosecutors’ ruling that Ipoc was the true owner of the stake was the first by a body with investigative powers.

The general prosecutor’s office also said it found no evidence that Leonid Reiman, Russia’s communications minister, had abused his position. Alfa has repeatedly claimed that Mr Reiman was Ipoc’s true owner.