Internationally Wanted Russian 'King Crab King', Fake Funeral in Korea?

Fishing Industry Tycoon Internationally Wanted for Murder Solicitation and Tax Evasion
Prosecutors Suspect "Funeral Staged... Likely Alive"

The fate of Oleg Khan, the fisheries tycoon known as the "King Crab King" in Russia, has attracted attention. It is reported that he died last year and his funeral was held in Korea.

Khan accumulated wealth by exporting seafood such as crabs and shrimp from Russia's Sakhalin region, and was internationally wanted on charges including murder-for-hire and smuggling. He was shot in 2005, and it is alleged that he hired a hitman in 2010 to kill Valery Pidenko, a fisheries competitor, whom he suspected to be behind the incident.

He is also accused of illegally catching king crabs and secretly exporting them to Korea and Japan, as well as evading taxes amounting to 3.6 billion 9 million rubles (approximately 52.2 billion KRW).

Russian King Crab [Image source=Yonhap News]

Local media Kommersant reported, "The Russian prosecution believes that Khan, who had a residence permit in Korea for at least the past five years, exported premium crabs?strategic food resources of Russia?without authorization, threatening the national economic security."

However, on the 21st (local time), Russian media including RIA Novosti reported that Khan's lawyers claimed at the Far East Primorsky Krai court on the 19th that he had died.

The lawyers argued, "It was confirmed in the UK that Khan died on February 14 last year," and insisted that the case against him should be closed. The authorities' electronic database also showed information that a person with the same name and date of birth as Khan died of pancreatic cancer in the UK on February 14 last year, and that his funeral was held in Korea.

However, the prosecution has not dismissed suspicions that Khan is still alive. The basis is that his death has not been registered with the authorities in Sakhalin and Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he was active. Also, none of Khan's relatives have reported his death to the registry office as required by law.

The prosecution dismissed the claim that Khan died while fleeing abroad as a "staged act."