KIEV, Jan. 25 - Businessman Rinat Akhmetov had nothing to do with the murder of lawmaker Yevhen Scherban and other businessmen in Donbas as media reports earlier claimed, citing Ukrainian politicians and journalists, according to the Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP law firm.

"We have been Mr. Akhmetov's defense attorneys for more than eight years and we have conducted investigations into these false claims exhaustively, jointly with the Kroll consulting company. We have not found any proof suggesting that Akhmetov was involved in Scherban's or other businessmen's killings. To be honest, some of the businessmen killed in the 1990s were Mr. Akhmetov's close friends," the firm said in a press release circulated on Friday.

The firm also said that an extensive investigation has been carried out "in reaction to false and misleading statements by Ukrainian officials about the transfer of commercial and industrial assets to Mr. Akhmetov's management."