Russian Intrigue Continues as Prosecutor’s Homes Searched

Residences of suspended Prosecutor General Yuri I. Skuratov were searched Thursday by investigators from his own office who apparently were seeking documents connected to an ongoing probe of alleged Kremlin corruption.

Skuratov, who has been outspoken in recent days about widespread graft in Russia, said investigators searched his Moscow apartment, his main residence outside the city and his mother-in-law’s apartment in what he maintained was an attempt to silence him.

“The search was clearly an act of intimidation,” he said by telephone. “Today’s incident goes to show that the Kremlin is still ready to go to any lengths and commit any violations of the law in order to intimidate me and hush me up.”

Officially, the investigators were seeking evidence in a case against the prosecutor general.

Skuratov was suspended by President Boris N. Yeltsin in April after a man closely resembling the prosecutor general was shown on state-run television in bed with two women--neither his wife.

Skuratov, who has gone to court to keep his job, alleges that Yeltsin’s inner circle wants to force him out because his investigation of alleged Kremlin kickbacks was hitting too close to the mark.

In recent days, the suspended prosecutor has given numerous interviews, including one to The Times in which he said his office was investigating whether 780 current and former officials abused their positions by trading in high-yield government securities.

On Tuesday, he told NTV television that a Swiss businessman--whose company, Mabetex, received $300 million in contracts to renovate Kremlin properties--paid the bills for credit cards issued in the names of Yeltsin and his two daughters. Skuratov said in the interview that investigators need to determine whether Yeltsin was aware of the credit cards.

Skuratov maintained that Thursday’s searches were not legal because a judge has ruled that an extension of the probe into his activities violates Russian law.

Skuratov said it was apparent from the way the investigators conducted the search that they were actually looking for documents related to Mabetex. “They wanted to know for sure what I’ve got on them,” he said.

In the end, after a search that lasted seven hours, the investigators took suits, family photos, videotapes and what Skuratov called irrelevant documents.

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Alexei V. Kuznetsov of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.