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The French musician and composer Didier Marouani, founder of the band Space, was detained by Moscow police on Tuesday over an alleged one million euro extortion attempt.
Marouani and his lawyer had gone to a bank in Moscow where they had apparently been planning to settle a case against Philip Kirkorov, a Russian pop singer they had accused of plagiarism.
But they were instead met by police, according to the Interfax news agency, who quoted the lawyer’s wife.
“For the moment there are no arrests. Officially, an individual is not considered arrested until a report has been completed,” said an interior ministry statement quoted by Russian news agencies.
Alexandre Dobrovinski, a Russian lawyer representing Kirkorov, confirmed his client had filed a complaint accusing Marouani of seeking one million euros ($1.1 million) and said the Frenchman would answer to police.
In a posting on Facebook earlier this month, Marouani had accused Kirkorov of plagiarising one of his songs.
The Frenchman’s lawyer said the two musicians had agreed to settle the case amicably, but that claim was denied by Kirkorov’s lawyer.
pop/adm/hmw