MIAMI _ A former Russian Olympic official once publicly ridiculed by President Vladimir Putin was arrested Tuesday morning by U.S. immigration agents at his South Florida home.
Agents detained Akhmed Bilalov, a onetime deputy head of the Russian Olympic Committee who fled the country after Putin chastised him for construction delays and spiraling costs before the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
Bilalov, in a 2013 interview with The Guardian, claimed he'd been poisoned with mercury while in Russia, suggesting he had been targeted by government agents, who have over the years been accused of killing Putin critics and opponents with poisons or staged accidents.
Sources confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, took Bilalov into custody early Tuesday at a condo in Sunny Isles Beach.
Various news reports over the years have called Bilalov a target of a criminal embezzlement probe in Russia. It was unclear Tuesday if Russia was seeking his extradition from the United States or if Bilalov was slated for deportation for some other violation.
The U.S. Department of Justice has an arm that deals with INTERPOL, which distributes notices from countries regarding international fugitives. A spokeswoman for INTERPOL Washington would not say if the department had received notice from Russia that Bilalov is a fugitive.
"Unfortunately, INTERPOL Washington does not have any information to share with regard to Mr. Bilalov," spokeswoman Vanessa Allen said in a statement to the Miami Herald.
An ICE spokesman could not give any details on Bilalov's arrest.
Bilalov had been living with his wife, and newborn child, at the condo in Sunny Isles Beach. His lawyer did not return a phone call requesting comment.
He was formerly the vice president of Russia's Olympic Committee, but was sacked by Putin after the Russian leader toured Sochi the year before the games. The lead-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics were marked by construction delays, ballooning costs and allegations of government corruption. Putin sarcastically chided Bilalov on live Russian TV for mushrooming costs of a ski-jump venue. Bilalov fled the country soon afterward.
Bilalov, a native of the republic of Dagestan, was also an oil tycoon in Russia. While in exile in the United States, he sued a former business associate over a bad business deal in Russia, a suit that was dismissed by the New York Supreme Court earlier this year.
