Judge says Khodorkovsky guilty of oil theft

MOSCOW Dec 27 (Reuters) - A Russian judge said on Monday that Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner were guilty of embezzling property, the main charge in the second trial against the jailed former oil tycoon.

Defence lawyers said the judge's statement meant Khodorkovsky had been found guilty of stealing oil from his now-defunct company Yukos. The judge continued reading the verdict and a sentence was not expected until later.

(Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk and Maria Tsvetkova; writing by Steve Gutterman; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel)