MOSCOW -The fraud trial of Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky resumes Monday with no sign of a deal that could avert property seizures at embattled oil firm YUKOS (YUKO.RTS), in which he is the main shareholder

Khodorkovsky's trial is one of the most significant in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, and represents the center piece of a crackdown on billionaire businessmen. The so-called "oligarchs" carved off huge slices of Russian industry in shady privatizations, and exercised considerable political influence in late 1990s, when President Boris Yeltsin's ill health created a power vacuum in the Kremlin.

Khodorkovsky's personal fortune of over $15 billion made him Russia's richest man, but it was his funding of liberal opposition parties that many say has caused his downfall.

Police seized him last October on charges widely seen as punishment for his political ambitions by a Kremlin that under Vladimir Putin shows little tolerance of viable opposition.

In line with Russian court practice, Khodorkovsky, 41, who is accused of fraud and tax evasion, will watch the court proceedings from inside a metal cage. He will be accompanied by Platon Lebedev, another big YUKOS shareholder and ally, who was arrested a year ago on similar charges.

Monday's hearing could end in a further adjournment to the case. The trial could drag on well into the autumn.

PUTIN TARNISHED

As the trial resumes, confusion surrounds YUKOS, the company Khodorkovsky made Russia's largest oil firm, after it missed a deadline to pay $3.4 billion in back taxes last Wednesday.

YUKOS now faces a possible fire sale of its assets. But its future largely depends on whether Khodorkovsky and a small core of main shareholders can strike a deal with the government that would almost certainly see them relinquish control.

Khodorkovsky offered from his jail cell this week to hand over his stake in return for the company's salvation, but this appears to have fallen on deaf ears. There have been conflicting reports as to whether talks are under way at all.

Tax charges against YUKOS now total almost $7 billion for 2000 and 2001. Analysts say that could rise to over $10 billion after audits for 2002 and 2003 -- a sum the company says could bankrupt it by the end of the year.

The uncertainty around YUKOS and recent bank failures have tarnished Putin's image as the architect of Russia's economic stability after the tumultuous 1990s, and could threaten future foreign investment.

Putin has pledged to try to prevent YUKOS' collapse but the firm has continued to come under attack.

Khodorkovsky's arrest itself has polarized Russia.

The majority have welcomed the crackdown as punishment for the vast wealth he accumulated during shady privatization deals that followed the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

But his plight has become a cause celebre for those who see Putin's rule as heavy handed.

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