Arrest of Russian oil tycoon prompts comparisons with fall of Yukos boss

The detention of billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov on money-laundering charges has sent shock waves through Russia's business and political circles and prompted comparisons with past crackdowns on oligarchs.

The Investigative Committee, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday that Yevtushenkov had been placed under house arrest and was being investigated for misappropriation or embezzlement linked to an oil deal.

The move is reminiscent of the prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, then head of oil company Yukos, who spent a decade in jail on what he says were politically motivated charges.

The probe into 65-year-old Yevtushenkov, who is Russia's 15th richest man with a fortune of US$9 billion according to Forbes, centres on how his company, AFK Sistema, acquired oil company Bashneft.

Business daily Vedomosti reported this year that state oil giant Rosneft was keen to get its hands on Bashneft.

The arrest sent shares in his holding company into a tailspin. Shares in Sistema, a company which Yevtushenkov controls, plunged by 28 per cent in the first half hour of trading on Moscow's MICEX stock exchange.