Russia's national parliament on Friday voted to expel one of its members, opposition politician Gennady Gudkov, dpa reported.
The legislature, or Duma, which is dominated by the pro-government United Russia political party, voted 291 for and 150 against, out of 444 members present, to strip Gudkov of his status of a parliament member.
United Russia members had called for a vote on Gudkov's removal citing his alleged links with companies under investigation by police. Several of the firms which Gudkov is alleged to own or be a partial shareholder of specialize in security.
"There is evidence of corruption," said Yelena Leonenko, a spokeswoman for Russia's Investigative Committee, according to an Interfax news agency report.
Russian law bans Duma members from managing businesses while serving in office. According to the allegations against him, Gudkov continued operating his business empire and receiving income from it, even after taking office in 2008.
A member of the moderate opposition party A Just Russia, Gudkov was at the forefront of street protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin over the last year.
Gudkov and other opposition leaders have claimed the state moved to strip him of deputy status following those protests, calling it Kremlin retaliation.
Shortly after the vote, Gudkov said: "I leave these walls with a certain relief, because these attacks which I and my family have been subjected to in the last several months would be difficult for any person."
Russian constitutional statute prohibits criminal prosecution of serving Duma members.
Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Russian prosecutor general's office, said that the agency would study the possibility of making criminal charges against Gudkov, now that his immunity from prosecution had been lifted.