May.13, 2010, 2:52 AM EDT

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Oleg Deripaska met with Spanish investigators in Moscow yesterday as a witness in a money-laundering probe.

Deripaska provided “assistance in an investigation involving a number of Russian and Spanish companies and persons,” Basic Element said in an e-mailed statement today, without elaborating.

Spanish authorities are investigating whether Deripaska has links with a Valencia-based company being probed, El Mundo reported in October. Deripaska said at the time he was ready to answer questions and had contacted the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office regarding the inquiry.

Deripaska is considered a witness in the case against his ex-business partner Michael Cherney, a naturalized Israeli citizen from the former Soviet Union, Vedomosti reported today.

“Deripaska has no links to the companies named in the investigation and is happy to provide whatever assistance he can in this matter,” the Basic Element statement said.