Russian investigators have released Ilya Traber, a prominent St. Petersburg businessman with alleged ties to President Vladimir Putin, from pre-trial detention, the news outlet Fontanka reported Friday.
The investigation reportedly justified the decision to release Traber based on a “sharp decline” in his health. The businessman, however, still faces charges of organized murder and arms trafficking.
Traber, 75, was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention in mid-June. He and his longtime business partner, Vladimir Danilenko, are accused of hiring two men to carry out the 2020 contract killing of businessman and politician Alexander Petrov.
Traber first drew public scrutiny for his ties to the Russian president during Putin’s early political career.
In 2011, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Traber had met with the Kremlin leader in the 1990s to discuss an oil terminal project. At the time, Putin was working in the St. Petersburg mayor’s office.
Years later, Peskov said Putin knew Traber but could not confirm if the two were on friendly terms.
Traber, who had built a shipping and port empire in northwestern Russia during the 1990s, has reportedly surrendered ownership stakes in at least four major companies during his two months in detention.
There has been no official confirmation of Traber’s release from law enforcement agencies.
According to Fontanka, he walked out of Moscow’s Lefortovo prison on Thursday evening and was traveling back to St. Petersburg.
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