MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russian jewelry holding Altyn said on Wednesday that a criminal investigation against its top management was a result of a 'dirty' competition.
Russia's Federal Security Service launched on October 5 a criminal case against the holding and a Moscow court consequently sanctioned the arrest of five Altyn officials on smuggling charges, including the company's top managers.
"The investigators purposely decapitated the holding by arresting the president and vice-president of the company," Altyn said on its website.
"Who stands to benefit from this? Certainly not the state, which could lose a stable taxpayer. But it is beneficial to the competitors, who are trying to push a successful company from the market and are able to convince not only the media but also the state officials," the company said.
The investigation into the company's activities, which has received substantial publicity in Russia, was launched after an incident on Russia's border with Kazakhstan in January, when a horse-drawn sled was detained carrying 50 kg of jewelry. The man driving the sled had tried to bypass the checkpoint.
Investigators said the jewelry sold via Altyn had been made abroad, then brought to former Soviet states, where Russian brand marks were put on them, and then smuggled into Russia for sale.
Altyn executives have denied smuggling and claim the items seized on the Russian-Kazakh border were not illicit.
Altyn is one of Russia's leading jewelry companies. It has its own factories and a chain of jewelry hypermarkets in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the UAE. It has six stores in Russia: three in Moscow, two in St. Petersburg and one in Omsk
The group, which was established in 1990, has a network of jewelry stores in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the United Arab Emirates. In Russia, it runs stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Omsk.
