MOSCOW, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Pavel Maslovskiy, the co-founder
and former chief executive at London-listed Russian gold miner
Petropavlovsk, has been charged with alleged
embezzlement and detained pending trial, Interfax new agency
quoted a Moscow court as saying.
Maslovskiy was detained by investigators from Russia's
internal affairs ministry before obtaining the two-month
pre-trial detention order from the court, the news agency said
on Friday.
Maslovskiy, who turns 64 on Friday, founded Petropavlovsk
with British businessman Peter Hambro in the 1990s but stepped
down from the company in August.
Reuters' calls to Maslovskiy's mobile phone were unanswered
and Reuters was also unable to contact his legal representatives
on Friday.
Maslovskiy is suspected of embezzling at least 95 million
roubles ($1.3 million) from Petropavlovsk's Pokrovsky mine
subsidiary, Interfax quoted an unnamed source as saying.
($1 = 73.8850 roubles)
(Reporting by Polina Devitt
Editing by David Goodman)