[1][2][3] Together with Viktor Averin, Mikhas formed the Solntsevo group in the late 1980s, where he was born and raised.
[2][10][a] Mikhailov had been referred to Tharin from his business friends André Milowanow and Olivier Demaurex of the financial firm SCFI Holding, whose offices are along avenue CF Ramuz in Pully, and had arranged for the Line SA company in Penthalaz to improve Moscow's water lines.
[2] On 16 October 1996, Mikhas was arrested in at the Cointrin Airport, Geneva, Switzerland on charges of false documents and a law about foreigners owning property.
[18][19] He was later acquitted and allowed to walk free from the court after spending two years in jail waiting for the trial.
[20][21][22] During the Swiss trial in Geneva, Mikhailov's attorney in Switzerland was Ralph Oswald Isenegger and in Russia was Sergei Pogramkov (Russian: Сергей Пограмков).