OREANDA-NEWS. The Spanish prosecutor sent a request to call the Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman as a suspect to testify in court, the newspaper El Pais writes. The prosecutor believes that Friedman, as a shareholder and creditor of Zed WorldWide, has taken a number of actions that led to a deterioration in its financial situation in order to acquire it for € 20 million, which is significantly lower than the market price, the publication said.

Friedman previously stated that he doesn't own a stake in Zed + through supposedly controlled companies. Zed + was formed as a result of the merger of Zed WorldWide with CJSC Temafon and CJSC Tematika.

In 2017, a Russian business newspaper issued a rebuttal of a material that spoke about Friedman's relationship with Zed's shareholder companies. “Information that I am controlled by Temafon CJSC, Tematika CJSC, Gelvaser and Bombalia, through which I allegedly own shares in Zed +, and that I had something to do with appointing Peter Wakka as an external manager Zed +, don't correspond to reality”,- said in a comment by Friedman.

The publication of the refutation was a condition of a peace agreement between Friedman and Vedomosti. In particular, the part of the text that spoke about Friedman’s connections with Zed + was recognized as inappropriate, and the information that the “Friedman structures” had requested the Dutch authorities to appoint an external manager to Zed + was also denied. Zed Group of Companies operates in the field of entertainment mobile and computer technologies.

According to the prosecution, Friedman played a "fundamental role" in the takeover of Zed WorldWide, boosting the bankruptcy of the company. In November 2017, Friedman sent a document to the Spanish prosecutor's office, in which he refused to take any responsibility for decisions that could lead to financial insolvency of Zed Worldwide.