Russian MP Vladislav Reznik among group acquitted in Spain over mafia ties

A SPANISH court has acquitted 17 Russian nationals suspected of mafia links of all charges, ten years after the start of a high-profile criminal investigation.
Russian MP, Vladislav Reznik, was among those acquitted of large-scale money-laundering, although nine other suspects remain at large.
The trial came as a follow-up to the 2008 “Operation Troika” investigation that led to the arrest of alleged mafia boss Gennady Petrov, and arrest warrants in 2016 for several high-ranking officials.
Spain’s National Criminal Court did not find sufficient evidence to prove that the Russians’ investments in Spain involved the proceeds of organised crime.
Prosecutors had accused the group, based in St Petersburg, of channelling more than €50 million of cash from offshore bank accounts into Spanish property and businesses.