Earlier this month, it emerged that Andrei Borodin, a wealthy banker suspected of involvement in a £270m fraud in Moscow, had been afforded political asylum in the UK after claiming he was the victim of a campaign of political persecution led by Russia's prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev. Mr Medvedev's spokesman criticised Britain for granting asylum, saying it was allowing a "simple ruse" whereby alleged criminals got refuge in the UK by pretending to be victims of Russian state oppression.