Russia has granted asylum to Vladimir Romanov, former owner of Scottish football club Hearts, who is wanted in Lithuania over alleged bank fraud, prosecutors said Monday.

The chief prosecutor's office in Vilnius said Moscow had refused to extradite the Russian-born Romanov, who is suspected of fraudulent activity as the head of his now-bankrupt Ukio bankas group.

"We were told that he was granted asylum in Russia but we are not aware of the motives behind that," Vilma Mazone, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, told AFP.

The 67-year-old magnate fled Lithuania last year after the central bank suspended operations at Ukio bankas, citing irregularities.

At Lithuania's request, Romanov was briefly detained in April in Moscow but was later released.

Romanov, who is the bank's majority owner and was Hearts' principal shareholder from 2005 until the club was sold this year, faces up to seven years in prison if found guilty.

He has been a controversial figure in both Scotland and Lithuania, where he won the local version of the Dancing with the Stars TV show in 2007 and set up a political party that suffered a stinging defeat in 2012's general election.