Russian media say a tycoon who recently entered politics is being sued by a local government for $70 million in allegedly unpaid taxes.

The reports, published Saturday, say Russian tax inspectors in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk filed the lawsuit against Mikhail Prokhorov, head of the Onexim investment holding company.

Officials told Russian media that Prokhorov is suspected of underpaying taxes due to the Russian state on a transaction in Britain in 2008. Local tax inspectors have asked Russia's anti-monopoly service for help in pursuing the case against the tycoon.

Prokhorov, one of Russia's richest men, announced last month that he plans to lead the business-friendly Right Cause Party in a campaign for December's parliamentary election.

Oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who used to be Russia's richest man, was arrested in 2003 on suspicion of tax evasion at a time when he was supporting politicians opposed to then-president Vladimir Putin. Khodorkovsky remains in prison after being convicted of tax fraud, money laundering and stealing from his former oil company, Yukos.