MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) - Prosecutors on Wednesday

charged Vadim Moshkovich, the billionaire founder of Russia's

top agriculture company Rusagro, with embezzlement of

30 billion roubles ($357 million), state news agency TASS

reported.

Moshkovich, a former member of the upper house of Russia's

legislature who Forbes says has a fortune of $2.7 billion, was

arrested last week alongside another senior Rusagro executive.

Last Thursday, a Moscow court placed him in pre-trial

detention for two months. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years

in prison.

TASS reported that the charges against Moshkovich relate to

a deal to buy an 85% stake in the Solnechnie Produkty oil and

fats company from its founder, in return for an investment that

did not take place.

Moshkovich has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecution of Moshkovich, who started out selling

computers amid the chaos of post-Soviet Russia before building

one of Russia's most powerful agricultural holdings, sent

shockwaves through Russia's business elite.

It is the highest-profile arrest of a Russian

businessman since the 2018 arrest of Summa shipping and

logistics group founder Ziyavudin Magomedov and the 2014 house

arrest of AFK Sistema shareholder Vladimir Yevtushenkov.

($1 = 84.1000 roubles)

(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Mark Trevelyan/Guy

Faulconbridge)