The Russian owner of Portsmouth Football Club has appeared in court after being arrested by British police over a money-laundering investigation in Lithuania.
Vladimir Antonov, 36, was held in London on Thursday on an extradition warrant issued by the Lithuanian authorities in connection with alleged fraud at a bank he controls.
He and his Lithuanian business partner Raimondas Baranauskas, 53, were granted conditional bail when they came before Westminster Magistrates' Court. The next hearing will be at the same court on December 16.
Lithuanian prosecutors issued a European Arrest Warrant for Antonov and Baranauskas on Wednesday after naming them as the main suspects in a pre-trial investigation into how hundreds of millions of pounds in assets were allegedly stripped from Snoras Bank.
City of London Police arrested the pair at Antonov's offices in Bishopsgate, central London, and held them in custody.
Snoras Bank was nationalised last week after regulators discovered a huge asset shortfall while regulators in neighbouring Latvia suspended and took control of subsidiary bank Latvijas Krajbanka after an unexpected outflow of funds in recent days. Lithuania's central bank said it would have to liquidate Snoras Bank.
Antonov, of Ladbroke Square, Notting Hill, west London, owned more than 60% of Snoras, and Baranauskas, who gave an address in Kent which was not read in open court, owned a stake of just over 25% before the bank was nationalised. The Russian businessman recently made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Swedish car manufacturer Saab.
Natalie Soule, for the Lithuanian authorities, said Antonov and Baranauskas were accused of being involved in misappropriating more than £200 million from Snoras Bank.
Antonov is charged with misappropriation and forging documents to cover up his theft, the court heard. Baranauskas is accused of misappropriation, false accounting, abuse of an official position and forgery. Rachel Scott, defending Antonov, said: "He strenuously denies dishonesty in any of his dealings as regards the bank."
The pair both said they did not consent to being extradited to Lithuania. The court heard both men had arranged that they would voluntarily be arrested by the Metropolitan Police on November 30 in connection with the Lithuanian authorities' investigation, and were taken by surprise when City of London Police held them on Thursday.
