Russian Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman yesterday denied that he was the beneficial owner of a Bermuda-based fund which is being investigated by KPMG Bermuda on government?s mandate.

Mr. Reiman stated that he ?has never been the beneficiary of IPOC International Growth Fund or of companies affiliated with the fund,? according to a report in the Russian business daily Vedomosti yesterday.

His comments come two days after a Swiss tribunal ruled that a person known as ?Proposed Witness no. 7? was the sole beneficiary of the fund. IPOC has always claimed its owner is Jeffrey Galmond, a Danish lawyer who has been doing business in Russia since the 1990s and who is a close friend of Mr. Reiman. However the tribunal pointed to Mr. Reiman as the actual owner this week by noting that ?Proposed Witness no. 7? was also chairman of the board at Russia?s national telecom holding Svyazinvest. It is a post Mr. Reiman took on in 2000. In another instance, the tribunal referred to a January story in the Wall Street Journal in which the Witness no. 7 ? identified as Mr. Reiman in that news story ? denied any link to IPOC.

The tribunal also found that Mr. Reiman had used criminal means to raise money to pay for an earlier transaction involving Megafon shares.

Mr. Reiman would not comment yesterday on the tribunal?s finding on the grounds he had not seen the ruling yet, Vedomosti reported. ?I have asked my lawyers to obtain the court?s ruling and analyse it. My eventual actions to defend my reputation will depend on their conclusions,? Mr. Reiman told Vedomosti.

The tribunal?s finding on Mr. Reiman was part of a larger hearing into an ownership of a stake in Russia?s third-largest mobile phone network operator, Megafon. IPOC, which currently owns an eight percent stake in Megafon, disputes Russia?s Alfa Group ownership of a 25.1 percent stake.

The dispute has led to a number of lawsuits around the world including one in the US which pits KPMG Bermuda and its directors Malcolm Butterfield and Michael Morrison against Diligence LLC. They accuse the intelligence and risk management firm?s employees of using fraud and bribery to obtain confidential information related to their probe of IPOC. MegaFon was established in 2002 with a charter capital of $2.2 million. Its shareholders are the Finnish-Swedish TeliaSonera with 35.6 percent, Russia?s Telecominvest with 31.3 percent, CT-Mobile, which is fully owned by Alfa Group, with 25.1 percent, IPOC International Growth Fund Ltd. with 8 percent and and West Link Ltd. with 1.5 percent. The company reported net profit of $153 million in 2005, a 32.4 percent improvement on the previous year.