Lithuanian prosecutors have issued a European arrest warrant for the Russian owner of the Portsmouth Football Club in connection with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets stripped from Snoras Bank, the 5th largest in Lithuania.

Prosecutors said they Vladimir Antonov and his Lithuanian partner Raimundas Baranauskas are the main suspects in a pretrial investigation into an alleged fraud and money laundering case that is threatening to destroy two Baltic banks.

REUTERS:

* Russian banker, with partner, suspected of embezzlement, fraud

* Follows seizure of Lithuania's Snoras bank

* Daughter bank in Latvia likely to be liquidated-regulator

* Funds missing from both banks-officials

* People queue at Latvian bank for small withdrawals allowed (Addds arrest warrant for former bank owners, share prices)

By Nerijus Adomaitis and Aleks Tapinsh

VILNIUS/RIGA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Lithuania on Wednesday issued a European arrest warrant for the Russian businessman whose bank was seized by the state last week after regulators found a hole in the bank's assets and launched a fraud probe.

The collapse of Lithuanian bank Snoras has also led to the suspension of its Latvian daughter company, Krajbanka. A Latvian regulator said the bank would likely be liquidated.

www.reuters.com