The World - News from Sept. 27, 1988

Yuri M. Churbanov, the son-in-law of former Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev, testified at his corruption trial that he once kept a briefcase full of money because it would have been too awkward to return it. Churbanov told the court that an Uzbekistan Communist Party official named Umarov once gave him what he called a “present” from Uzbekistan party leader Sharaf Rashidov. “When I opened it I found 100,000 or 130,000 rubles ($160,000 or $208,000). I wanted to return the money, but to whom? Umarov left and I felt awkward approaching Rashidov,” Churbanov said as shouts of disbelief riddled the courtroom, the Tass news agency reported. Churbanov was first deputy interior minister before Brezhnev died in 1982.