Prosecutors said Frenkel, an executive at VIP Holding bank, had acted out of revenge when he ordered the murder of Kozlov, who had revoked VIP Holding’s license in June 2006. Earlier this year, a jury found Frenkel guilty of paying a female acquaintance, whowith two intermediaries, hired three Ukrainian taxi drivers to shoot Kozlov.
Frenkel was arrested three months after the September 2006 shooting death of Kozlov, who was gunned down coming out of a football game in
Victim Led Campaign Against Bank Crime
Kozlov, 41, had spearheaded a campaign to clean up
The case became even more intriguing last year, when Austrian prosecutors came forward saying that information about Kozlov they had sent to Russia’s prosecutor general had been disregarded. Two weeks before the murder they had been working with Kozlov in investigating large sums from small Russian banks being routed through Raiffeisen Bank in
Frenkel has maintained his innocence since he was charged in January 2007. His lawyers have said they will appeal to the Russian Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
--Beth Kampschror