The accusation came as prosecutors revealed for the first time details of the new charges of embezzlement and money laundering they filed against both men this week.
A statement on the prosecutor-general's website said that the oil acquired illegally between 1998-2003 was then sold through firms registered in Russia and abroad. As a result, the statement said a total of $24.5 billion was allegedly laundered.
Khodorkovsky, the founder of the now bankrupt Yukos oil company, and Lebedev, the head of Yukos' financial arm, are already serving eight-year prison sentences for fraud and tax evasion.
Critics said the trial against Khodorkovsky was Kremlin-inspired punishment for his challenges to President Vladimir Putin.
(ITAR-TASS, Interfax, AP)
Democracy In Russia
Demonstrators in Moscow carry a coffin with a television in it to protest government control over broadcasting (TASS file photo)
DO RUSSIANS LIKE THEIR GOVERNMENT? During a briefing at RFE/RL's Washington office on November 15, Richard Rose, director of the Center for the Study of Public Policy at the University of Aberdeen, discussed the results of 14 surveys he has conducted since 1992 on Russian public opinion about democracy and the country's development. He discussed the implications of these opinions for relations with the West and for Russia's 2008 presidential election.
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