MOSCOW (AFP).- Dmitry Rybolovlev, the owner of Monaco football club, has returned to his native Russia after being charged with corruption in connection with a fraud case involving a Swiss art dealer, his spokesman said.

"Dmitri Rybolovlev is in Moscow. He was released from custody with no bail requirements nor obligation to stay in Monaco," his representative Dmitry Chechkin told TASS.

"He has not been required to stay in Monaco and he is free to go wherever he wishes," he added.

Since 2015, Rybolovlev has been locked in a legal battle with Yves Bouvier, the art dealer he accuses of having swindled him out of up to a billion dollars, by charging inflated fees for works of art.

Rybolovlev and eight other people were charged this week following a series of raids.

Former Monaco Justice Minister Philippe Narmino, his wife and his son, Rybolovlev's lawyer Tetiana Bersheda, three high-ranking police officers and the principality's former interior minister Paul Masseron have all been detained and questioned this week.


© Agence France-Presse