Heart Of Midlothian Owner Vladimir Romanov Refuses To Apologize For Abandoning Club

Scottish Premier League side Heart of Midlothian Owner Vladimir Romanov on Saturday refused to apologize for "abandoning the crisis-hit club," according to Norman Silvester of the the Scotland DAILY RECORD. In his first public statement since the club was placed in administration, Romanov claimed "the crisis at Tynecastle was nothing to do with him." Romanov: "They have a new director. I’m far away from Edinburgh. What do I have in common with this?" Mystery "surrounds the whereabouts of Romanov," who is suspected of embezzling £12.5M ($19M) after the collapse of a bank he owns in his native Lithuania. Romanov was told in April by the Lithuanian Financial Crime Investigation Service that he "was to be investigated on the Ukio Bankas embezzlement allegation." He was due to meet prosecutors in Vilnius, Lithuania on May 2 "but failed to turn up." His lawyers said that "Romanov had suffered a stroke and was too ill to attend" (DAILY RECORD, 6/30).