Armed, masked law enforcement officers on Thursday raided a bank part-owned by Mikhail Prokhorov, officials and lawyers said, immediately raising the prospect that the Kremlin wants to send a message to the Nets owner and his political ambitions. 

An official of the MFK Bank said the raid had to with a bank borrower, not Right Cause, Prokhorov's political party, or his investment vehicle, Onexim. However, a bank lawyer said he could not rule out a link to the party, which Prokhorov took charge of in June and is leading into Russia's December 4 parliamentary elections. 

Later, the Russian interior ministry issued a statement saying the raid had nothing to do with Prokhorov or his party, that police had indeed detained a borrower suspected of receiving a bribe. He happened to be at the MFK offices.