Luzhkov and Baturina have recently been noted skipping around Europe in a probable attempt to flee the country, and now it appears that Bank of Moscow President Andrei Borodin may be joining them.

As RIA Novosti reports:

Bank of Moscow President Andrei Borodin has fled Russia after the police were ready to charge him with illegally granting a 13 billion ruble ($444 million) loan to Elena Baturina, wife of former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, sources said on Tuesday.

“Last week the police asked the court to relieve Borodin of his duties after which he was to be charged and a restraint on travel imposed,” a police source said.

A Moscow court rejected the request and Borodin then left Russia, the source said.

Banking sources told RIA Novosti that Borodin, whose duties are being temporarily performed by Bank of Moscow Vice President Sergei Yermolayev, was in London, where former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and his wife Yelena Baturina are thought to be resident. The Bank of Moscow said Borodin was on sick leave.

Investigators raided Premiere Estate, a property company owned by Baturina, in February as part of a probe into misuse of Moscow city funds in connection with the 13 billion ruble loan to her. Police also raided the Bank of Moscow and the homes of some of its directors.

Police think some of the bank’s staff helped embezzle money which ended up in Baturina’s account. The loan granted by Bank of Moscow was allegedly used in a complex series of deals to buy land in Moscow owned by Inteco, Baturina’s construction and real estate firm, at an excessive price, in order to slash the firm’s debts.

Both Inteco and Baturina have consistently denied any impropriety in connection to the deals.

Meanwhile, a fight for control over Bank of Moscow has been going on since February, when Russia’s second largest bank, state-controlled VTB announced a gradual acquisition of Bank of Moscow, the capital’s investment vehicle. The Moscow government sold its stake in the bank to VTB for 103 billion rubles after President Dmitry Medvedev fired Luzhkov last fall.

VTB now owns a 46.48% share in Bank of Moscow and plans to gain a 100% control. Borodin and his business partner Lev Alaluyev hold a 20.3% stake in Bank of Moscow.

Borodin gained a court injunction blocking the acquisition of Goldman Sachs’ 3.88% stake in the bank, which would have increased VTB’s share in Bank of Moscow to a controlling interest.

Prokhorov said that the court has ordered Nemtsov, a former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Solidarity movement, to retract his statement that “For many Muscovites, it has long been no secret that all levels of the Moscow authorities are penetrated with corruption.”

Kommersant has been ordered to print a redaction of another statement by Nemtsov, saying “I consider Luzhkov to be a corrupt official and a thief.”

Additionally, Nemtsov and Kommersant must pay the mayor 500 thousand rubles (approximately $17,000) in damages.

Prokhorov says that they plan to issue several appeals to annul the decision.

A second court case brought by Luzhkov’s billionaire wife and founder of the Inteko construction firm, Elena Baturina, also charges Nemtsov with libel. The case has been postponed until December 22.

The source of discontent that instigated Baturina, Luzhkov, and the Moscow government to turn to the courts was a brochure written and published by Nemtsov entitled “Luzhkov. Results.” In the brochure, Nemtsov blames Luzhkov for the deterioration of life in Moscow during his tenure as mayor, and also for unfairly awarding construction contracts to Inteko, which is said to have once controlled 20 percent of Moscow construction.

“We have irrefutable proof,” Nemtsov wrote, “that Luzhkov favored Inteko while signing permits for commercial development, making Baturina the richest woman in Russia.”

This is not the first such lawsuit filed by Luzhkov. Just weeks ago on November 12, the mayor sued controversial politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky for calling him corrupt. A Moscow court found Eduard Limonov, a leader of the Other Russia coalition and the banned National Bolshevik part, guilty of slandering Luzhkov in a 2007 case. Limonov was ordered to pay the mayor 500 thousand rubles for his statement on Radio Svoboda that “The Moscow courts are under Luzhkov’s control.”

Luzhkov, who has held the post of mayor in Moscow for 17 years and enjoys a 36% approval rating, has come under a recent wave of criticism for corruption, largely involving his wife’s business. Some politicians, however, are worried that the end of Luzhkov’s reign could result in a mayor more directly controlled by the Kremlin.

“The campaign against Luzhkov is being waged by pro-Kremlin forces. There is an order to hound him, but we won’t take part in this,” said Sergei Mitrokhin, leader of the liberal Yabloko party. “We don’t want to see him removed because then they could appoint somebody who was unelected and who would do to Moscow anything the Kremlin happens to want.”