Alischer Usmanov is considered one of Vladimir Putin’s closest associates.
German prosecutors and police on Wednesday proceeded to register the property of Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alischer Usmanov in the country as suspected of tax fraud and violation of sanctions imposed by the West on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
In the states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg and Schleswig, more than 250 bailiffs and officials of the Bundesrecherche Strafhof (BKA) searched for documents and seized them from 24 properties. -Holstein.
Very close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a figure on the list of Russian citizens sanctioned by the European Union for the war in Ukraine, Usmanov is under investigation for tax evasion in Germany, despite having been active since 2014 regularly stayed in this country. a luxury villa in the Bavarian town of Rottach-Egern, on Lake Tegernsee and near Munich, which is home to countless billionaires from all over the world.
The Munich II prosecutor’s office has reported that the raid has targeted a Russian citizen and four other people. The newspaper ‘Bild’ reveals that the oligarch’s three residences in Germany, worth more than 21 million euros, are guarded by a private security service with armed guards. Apparently, those guards are paid with money from Usmanov’s accounts in Germany, despite the fact that the German authorities have ordered them to be frozen due to sanctions.
In addition, he and the other four suspects are accused of cooperating in violating the sanctions against Russia. ‘Spiegel Online’ shows that the three houses are registered in the name of Usmanov in Rottach-Egern. He adds that the tax authorities are accusing him of defrauding as much as 555 million euros between 2014 and 2022 for failing to pay income tax and other taxes. He is also suspected of money laundering and violating German export laws.
Usmanov fled from Bavaria to Uzbekistan in March, shortly after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. His properties in the European Union, three villas and a luxury yacht were seized for supporting Putin’s regime, among others. His luxury home in Bavaria remains the property of the oligarch, but he cannot rent or sell it.
Born in 1953 in Chust, in present-day Uzbekistan, his fortune is estimated at $14 billion. It owns metallurgical and steel consortia, as well as interests in telecommunications and Internet companies. He also had a high participation in the English football club Arsenal.
Usmanov was included in the list of Russian citizens sanctioned by the EU shortly after the invasion of Ukraine began. The Brussels authorities consider him an “oligarch mainly favored by Putin” and belongs to a circle of Russian businessmen who are “in charge of managing financial flows”, a position in which he served as a “straw man” for Putin. . Usmanov, of course, denies all these accusations.
Simultaneously with the registration, the luxury yacht ‘Dilbar’, apparently registered in the name of a sister of Usmanov and seized by the German authorities after the start of the war in Ukraine, was transferred last night from the port of Hamburg to that of Bremen by the shipyards where he was carrying out an overhaul at the time of his intervention.
Built by the German shipyards Lürssen for some 600 million dollars, the ‘Dibar’ has a length of 156 meters, a 25 meter swimming pool and two heliports. At 15,500 gross registered tons, it is considered the largest yacht in the world. The transfer, carried out with the engine switched off and using tugboats, was carried out for technical reasons, as the yacht occupied a dock that the shipyards need for their work with other ships. The BKA stressed that, since the seizure by the German authorities on the basis of sanctions against Russia, the luxury ship “cannot be sold, leased or mortgaged”.
Source: La Verdad
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