Yukos chief guilty on tax charges
By CNN's Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty
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Shakhnovsky was the head of Yukos's Moscow subsidiary
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MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A top shareholder of Yukos Oil Company has been given a one-year suspended sentence for tax evasion, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
Vasily Shakhnovsky -- former president of Yukos-Moscow -- was found guilty by a Moscow court of major tax evasion.
But in its ruling to suspend the one-year sentence, the court, quoted by Interfax, said "circumstances had changed" and that Shakhnovsky had ceased to be "a threat to society," noting he is no longer working in the organizations in which he committed his crimes.
Tax officials previously dropped a civil suit against Shakhnovsky after he paid $1.8 million in taxes, but the criminal case continued.
It is the first court decision in the Yukos affair, which has implicated several Yukos stockholders and officials.
Former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky remains behind bars as prosecutors continue their investigation into charges of fraud and tax evasion. He was arrested last October and his pre-trial detention has been extended to March 25.
Yukos Oil Company, reached by CNN, had no official comment on the ruling.
