IN the latest twist to the three-year legal battle involving the Bermuda-based IPOC International Growth Fund, a Moscow court this week issued an arrest warrant for an American citizen whose actions allegedly sparked the litigation.

The Russian daily reported in its online edition that Leonid Rozhetskin had been added to Russia's world wanted list on swindle charges, after the ZamoskvoretskyCourt issued an arrest warrant for him in absentia.

The dispute began in 2003 when Mr. Rozhetskin's company LV Finance sold 25.1 per cent of MegaFon to Alfa Group, an investment vehicle for Russia billionaire Mikhail Fridman, for $300 million.

IPOC challenged the purchase, saying it had a prior option which gave it the right to buy the MegaFon shares. The disagreement has sparked lawsuits in Bermuda, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands and Switzerland.

The proceedings have proved damaging to the island's reputation as a financial jurisdiction, particularly after a Swiss tribunal found that Russian IT and Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman was the true beneficiary of the $1-billion fund ? something denied by IPOC.

In its ruling, the tribunal found that Mr. Reiman had amassed great personal wealth in the IPOC Fund by taking advantage of his role in public office. And it also stated its opinion that the money in the Bermuda fund included the laundered proceeds of crime.

Moscow prosecutors have been pursuing a case against Mr. Rozhetskin since late 2004, when the LV Finance boss was facing charges of grand swindle, which carries a potential prison sentence of ten years.

However, he was allowed to leave Russia in March last year and Russian media reported this week that his whereabouts were unknown.