The bank lent the money to a real estate firm, Premier Estate, which then proceeded to buy tracts of land for a construction company owned by the mayor’s wife Yelena Baturina. The firm paid out sums for the land higher than the average value of similar plots.
Russian Interior Ministry investigators allege that the loan money fraudulently wound up in Baturina’s personal bank account.
Neither Luzhkov nor Baturina has been charged with a crime.
President Dimitry Medvedev dismissed the powerful Luzkhov prematurely last year after he served 18 years at the helm of Russia’s capital city, citing a loss of confidence in his leadership abilities.
Luzhkov’s wife, Yelena Baturina, is thought to be the wealthiest woman in Russia with an estimated worth of $1.1 billion. In 2008, Forbes estimated her fortune at $4 billion.
A source close to the investigation told RIA Novosti that the former mayor was due to appear for questioning on October 28, but Luzhkov told the same outlet that he was out of the country speaking at a medical conference.
He said he would report for questioning upon his return to Russia.
“When I return to Moscow, I, as a law-abiding citizen, will come in contact with the investigators,” he told RIA Novosti.
Luzhkov attributes the request for questioning to a recent interview he gave to Radio Liberty detailing his ouster. He was highly critical of the dominant United Russia party and its leaders, Putin and Medvedev.
“I have reasons to suppose that the summoning is linked to my interview with Radio Liberty,” he said.
Investigators began probing into the Bank of Moscow deal in late 2010. Police raided the offices of Baturina’s firm, ZAO Inteko, as well as the Bank of Moscow in February.
Baturina sold ZAO Inteko, estimated to be worth $1.2 billion, in September to businessman Mikhail Shishkhanov. The former head of the Bank of Moscow, Andrei Borodin, who was a close Luzhkov ally, fled to London after selling his stake in the bank to a businessman seen as pro-Kremlin.
Borodin also denies any wrongdoing.
