75-year-old billionaire Ilya Traber released from Lefortovo
Ilya Traber, a 75-year-old billionaire who has been called a "friend of Putin" by the Russian media, has been released from Moscow's Lefortovo pre-trial detention center. The decision to release the businessman, who is accused of ordering the murder, was explained by the sharp deterioration in his health. At the same time, the charges against him have not been dropped.
75-year-old billionaire Ilya Traber has been released from Lefortovo prison.
Traber left Lefortovo on the evening of August 27 and headed to St. Petersburg, where he lived before his arrest. This was reported by the St. Petersburg newspaper Fontanka, which TASS news agency confirmed, citing its own source.
According to Fontanka, the investigator conducting the criminal case against Traber decided to release him from custody due to a sharp deterioration in his health.
According to the publication, Traber left Lefortovo at about 7:00 p.m. The journalists emphasized that his release does not mean that the criminal case is closed.
**Traber has been in custody since June 17**
The Moscow Basmane Court on June 17 detained Ilya Traber for two months, and on August 13 his detention was extended for another two months.
The businessman was charged under the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on murder for malicious purposes by an organized group and illegal trafficking of weapons within an organized group.
The criminal case is related to the murder of Alexander Petrov, a municipal deputy in the Vyborg district of the Leningrad region, in the fall of 2020.
According to the investigation, Petrov was shot and killed from the opposite bank of the river while he was in the area of his cottage near Vyborg. A total of four people were detained in this case.
**Media links Traber to criminal circles**
Ilya Traber's business interests are connected with the ports of St. Petersburg. In the 1990s, he was one of the largest antique dealers in the city, and also controlled the company "Petersburg Oil Terminal".
It is also noted that Traber was acquainted with Vladimir Putin, who worked in the St. Petersburg mayor's office in those years. In this regard, some media outlets call him "Putin's friend".
Russian and foreign media outlets have also linked Traber to criminal circles. In 2016, Spain put him on the wanted list as part of a case related to the "Russian mafia".
In 2018, Traber sued the Dozhd TV channel for calling him a member of the "Tambov criminal group". The channel's plot was about Traber's business in the ports of northwestern Russia and his cooperation with businessman Nikolai Shamalov.