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But events were to take a turn for the worse: in October 2003, Khodorkovsky was arrested at gunpoint in central Siberia for alleged massive tax evasion and fraud. 'The s*** has hit the fan,' Curtis told colleagues.
The 45-year-old climbs aboard and manoeuvres his bulky frame into a rear seat. At 6.59pm the helicopter lifts off, bound for Dorset. Flying conditions are reasonable with visibility of four miles.
Waiting impatiently and clutching his two mobile phones is a broad-shouldered lawyer named Stephen Curtis. The 45-year-old climbs aboard and manoeuvres his bulky frame into a rear seat. At 6.59pm the helicopter lifts off, bound for Dorset. Flying conditions are reasonable with visibility of four miles. The lawyer turns off his phones and sits back.
When Berezovsky and his colleagues left at the end of the service, the remainder of the congregation, who felt uneasy at the sight of these stern-faced Russians, moved out of the way to let them pass. The death of Stephen Curtis, the lawyer who knew too much, remains a mystery.
Deputy prosecutor-general Saak Karapetyan, 58, died in a helicopter crash
It has today been claimed that 'his death will resolve a number of very painful issues' in the Russian government.
By the time the helicopter approaches Bournemouth airport, it is raining lightly and the runway is obscured by cloud. The pilot, Captain Max Radford, who regularly flies Curtis to and from London, radios air traffic control for permission to land. 'Echo Romeo,' replies Kirsty Holtan, the air traffic controller.
Khodorkovsky trusted the sociable Curtis. He liked the way the lawyer kept most of the details in his head and the paper trail to a minimum. This helped maintain secrecy. Like an absent-minded professor, Curtis often carried about him scraps of paper with scribbled notes relating to hundreds of millions of pounds.
At this time, Berezovsky, Khodorkovsky and another tycoon, Roman Abramovich, were unknown in Britain, as was the phenomenon of the Russian oligarchs, which they were to spearhead.
Hundreds of millions of dollars of Russian oil profits from Yukos were spirited away via offshore accounts in Gibraltar, the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man. However, exactly how much will never be known.