The head of MENATEP Group was helped to his death

Text: Irina Petrakova Photo: Skynews

In the court of the English city of Bournemouth, a trial has begun in the case of a plane crash in which the head of the MENATEP Group, lawyer Stephen Curtis, died. Relatives of the deceased say that Curtis was watched for a long time and eventually certain “people from Russia” dealt with him.

Who is Stephen Curtis
Stephen Curtis, a former Chester law clerk and tax haven expert, is a specialist in international and company law. Most of his clients were outside the UK...

The trial in the death of British lawyer Stephen Curtis, who led the affairs of the Russian oil company Yukos abroad, began on Tuesday in the court of the city of Bournemouth in the south of England. The judicial investigation began almost a year and a half after Curtis's death, following press reports that the death of the multimillionaire lawyer could have been faked.

Stephen Curtis worked as managing director of MENATEP Group, the main shareholder of YUKOS, for only about six months. He was appointed to this position on November 13, 2003, after the arrest of the former manager Platon Lebedev. And on March 3, 2004, an Augusta-109 helicopter, carrying 45-year-old Curtis, crashed one and a half kilometers from the airport in the British city of Bournemouth (Dorset). The lawyer died in the crash. Another victim of the plane crash was 34-year-old pilot Matthew Redford.

The investigation into the cause of the crash was carried out by the Air Accident Investigation Unit of the UK Civil Aviation Authority. According to the Times, the investigators' report was published in June 2005.

British investigators ruled the crash an accident and found no signs that the crash of Augusta 109 was faked.

On the evening of March 3, Stephen Curtis was flying from London to Bournemouth. Even before entering the airport's radar coverage, helicopter pilot Matthew Redford informed dispatchers about problems on board. Air traffic controllers heard a loud engine noise, followed by a high-pitched screech. Two air traffic controllers saw the helicopter emerge from the clouds, suddenly roll to the left and stagger out of control. During radio contacts with the control tower, the pilot confirmed that he had a problem, but, according to investigators, he was unable or unwilling to say what it was. After 30 seconds, the helicopter crashed to the ground. During the disaster, the cockpit was severely burned. Investigators had to use DNA tests to identify the dead.

According to the investigation, the pilot was “probably disoriented” when landing due to deteriorating weather conditions (there was thick fog in Bournemouth that day). “Neither the communications with air traffic controllers nor the situation on board the helicopter indicated an intentional crash,” said the department’s senior investigator, Paul Hannat. Immediately after the disaster, speculation appeared in the British media about the non-accidental death of Curtis. Allegedly, shortly before his death, he tried to get in touch with law enforcement agencies. According to British journalists, the lawyer was threatened with murder and he preferred to keep his plans for any trips secret.

In addition, the famous lawyer even planned to sell his penthouse in Dorset because he was afraid of attacks on himself and his family.

The three-day jury trial, which will include a homicide investigator as well as technicians, will hear testimony from 16 witnesses. Most of the witnesses are technical experts, including an explosion specialist. Curtis' widow Sarah also gave written testimony.

A preliminary hearing was held at Bournemouth Crown Court on Tuesday, with the uncle of the deceased lawyer and the father of the helicopter pilot speaking. According to the British newspaper Telegraph, both witnesses indicated that Curtis's death could well have been faked. According to the victim's uncle, Eric Jenkins, his nephew had been under surveillance for the past two years. And shortly before the disaster, he received death threats. Eric Jenkins also said that two weeks before his death, Stephen Curtis told him that if anything happened to him, “it wouldn’t be an accident.” Jenkins, Curtis's estate manager, believes that the death threats and surveillance against Curtis were directly related to the business he conducted with MENATEP and Yukos. “Stephen was very concerned about the whole Yukos situation,” Jenkins said.

A relative of Curtis did not rule out that the criminals who killed the head of the MENATEP Group were from Russia.

Following him in court was the father of the pilot Matthew Redford who died in the crash. According to 72-year-old David Redford, his son could have been a victim of a murder planned against Curtis. According to the pilot's father, Matthew Redford had 11 years of experience, was an experienced pilot and at various times was involved in transporting the most famous people in the UK. Therefore, according to Redford, the investigation unfairly blamed his son for the disaster.

According to David Redford, lawyer Curtis worked with some of the most powerful people in the world, which made him a potential target for reprisals. And it was easy to set up a tragedy: the hangar at Bournemouth Airport, where the businessman’s personal helicopter was parked, was not very carefully guarded. It was quite possible to get there through a low fence and cause a malfunction. According to Redford Sr., the air accident investigation department did not spend enough time investigating the theory that the helicopter crash was deliberately staged.

The day before, the testimony of another witness in the case, Curtis Lewis's personal pilot John Norris, was also read out in court. He said Curtis had told him about the threats he had received, but insisted he was not worried about his own fate because he had already been diagnosed with leukemia.

Coroner Sheriff Payne summed up the evidence by saying conspiracy theories may well surround the crash, "particularly in relation to Mr Curtis's work with Russian clients."

“It has all the ingredients of a spy thriller or a thriller of any genre. This person was associated with famous Russians in the world, Russian oil, various things that arouse great curiosity in the press,” Payne added. He also noted the inadequacy of the official investigation. According to the investigator, the employees of the Air Accident Investigation Department did not provide an exact version of what happened, saying only that the crash was not staged.

British media also consider Curtis's connection to British intelligence to be noteworthy.

In the months before his death, Curtis, a tax evasion expert who devised complex schemes for his Russian and Arab clients, was allegedly collaborating with British intelligence agencies, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, Curtis came into contact with them and offered to share information about the illegal business of Russian companies in the UK. And a few days before his death, some of the materials collected by Curtis were transferred to the British National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS), which collects information about organized crime in the country.

01 NOVEMBER 19:38

SPECIAL APPLICATIONS