German Gorbuntsov's wife issues appeal over Russian banker's shooting

Wife asks for information on those behind east London attack that has left millionaire husband under armed guard in hospital

Russian banker German Gorbuntsov, who is in hospital after being shot in east London. Photograph: EPA

The wife of the millionaire Russian banker who was shot and critically wounded by a lone gunman in east London has appealed for the public to help find those responsible in this country or in his homeland.

Lorissa Gorbuntsov, whose husband is under armed guard in a London hospital, made the public appeal as the police said they were working with the Russian authorities to find the gunman, who used a pistol fitted with a silencer to fire four bullets at German Gorbuntsov.

"We as a family would like to appeal for any person, in this country or outside the UK, to come forward and provide the police with any information which will assist in the capture of the person or persons behind the attempted murder of my husband, German," she said.

"This is an act of pure unexpected violence, which should be treated as so. Please come forward so that justice can prevail."

She said her family was going through an "emotional and complicated time".

Inquiries are leading detectives into the opaque world of Russian organised crime as the hunt continues for the gunman, who fled after shooting his victim in east London on the night of 20 March.

Scotland Yard has confirmed that the pistol used by the hitman has been recovered. It is understood to have been found in bushes close to where the victim was shot in the shadow of the Canary Wharf tower.

The attack near Gorbuntsov's apartment block was not initially acknowledged by the Metropolitan police beyond a press release saying a shooting had taken place in east London without details of the victim's nationality or the fact he was a businessman. Scotland Yard only confirmed the victim's name two days after news of the attack was published in the Russian media.

Contract killings are one of the recognised security threats in the runup to the Olympic Games.

The Met's deputy assistant commissioner, Steve Kavanagh, said on Thursday that detectives were working actively with the Russian authorities. Relations between law enforcement bodies in both countries reached breaking point over the investigation into the poisoning of the dissident Alexander Litvinkenko in 2006.

The former KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi was charged with Litvinenko's murder in May 2007 – a move that sparked a diplomatic crisis between London and Moscow and the tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats. Russia is refusing to extradite Lugovoi.

The inquiry into the attack on Gorbuntsov is said to be focusing on organised crime rather than any state-sponsored targeting of the banker, who amassed his fortune through having stakes in six major banks in Russia and Moldova. But any investigation into organised crime emanating from Russia will examine potential crossovers between criminality and power and politics.

Gorbuntsov remains in a critical but stable condition. Police are seeking the taxi driver who picked him up in Bishopsgate, in the City of London, at about 7pm on Tuesday and dropped him off at his apartment block in Byng Street shortly before the shooting.

Gorbuntsov had recently given information to Russian police investigating the attempted murder of another banker, Alexander Antonov, in 2009. Three Chechen men were convicted of the attempted murder but police never established who had hired them. Investigators in Moscow reopened the case earlier this month after receiving information from Gorbuntsov.

The suspected gunman is described as a slim, white male, about 6ft tall, who was wearing a dark, hooded top.