Top Russian economist Vladimir Mau charged with fraud

Leading Russian economist Vladimir Mau has been charged with fraud "on an especially large scale", Russia's interior ministry said on Thursday. It said he was accused as part of a larger case involving another top academic and a former deputy education minister.

Leading Russian economist Vladimir Mau has been charged with fraud "on an especially large scale", Russia's interior ministry said on Thursday.

It said he was accused as part of a larger case involving another top academic and a former deputy education minister. Mau, 62, is an economic liberal with close links to top policymakers. He was an associate of the late Yegor Gaidar, who implemented "shock therapy" economic reforms in Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

State news agency Tass said he had been detained, while Interfax said investigators were asking for him to be placed under house arrest.