U.S. Lawmakers Want Probe Into Kiriyenko

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http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2004/06/29/011.html

Five American congressmen are asking U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to investigate whether former Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko might be seeking a U.S. residence permit and might have played a role in the disappearance of a multibillion-dollar IMF loan during his tenure.

Kiriyenko, now the presidential envoy to the Volga Federal District, angrily denounced the allegations Monday as "a bold lie."

The five congressman, all Republican members of the House of Representatives, said in a letter to Powell that "Western European sources" had informed them Kiriyenko recently purchased property in Illinois to possibly apply for permanent U.S. residence, and they expressed concern over the origins of any money he might invest in the United States.

"In 1998, when Kiriyenko was prime minister, the International Monetary Fund released $4.8 billion in aid to Russia. This money apparently never reached the Russian government and is completely unaccounted for," said the June 4 letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Moscow Times.