The international police organization Interpol has taken an interest in the business in Bulgaria and Cyprus of former Russian opposition lawmaker Gennady Gudkov.

The story was reported by the Moscow-based newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda.

The publication reports that the Russian Interior Ministry has received a request to confirm information about Gudkov's criminal activities in the two countries.

Gudkov, a former KGB colonel, was accused of engaging in direct commercial activity while serving as a lawmaker, which is forbidden under Russian law.

The Russian authorities confirmed that Gudkov participated in the management of a company that bought property in Bulgaria, where he was engaged with the construction of expensive real estate.

The MP was probed after a complaint against him was filed by Bulgarian Ivaylo Zartov, Gudkov's former business associate. The Bulgarian is currently serving a 13-year jail sentence for fraud and theft.

It is presumed that before their falling out, the two laundered money through banks in Cyprus.

In mid-September, Gudkov was ousted from Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

He denies all accusations and says the charges were "payback" for his involvement in anti-Kremlin protests.

The leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, PES, of the Party of European Socialists, PES, and former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Sergey Stanishev, strongly condemned Gudkov's ousting.