House searches for investigations against Russians

Raid in Bavaria

Police officers on a balcony of a house belonging to the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov

(Photo: dpa)

Munich In the course of investigations against a Russian for violating EU sanctions, 24 houses and apartments were searched nationwide on Wednesday. Among other things, it is a villa on Lake Tegernsee, which is said to belong to the oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who is loyal to the Kremlin.

The Munich II public prosecutor’s office did not confirm the suspect’s identity, but eyewitnesses observed emergency services who searched the building in Rottach-Egern in the morning. There were further searches with a total of around 250 officers in Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg.

According to the investigators, the Russian is suspected of having spent frozen funds to pay for the guarding of his property in Upper Bavaria. There is therefore the initial suspicion of a violation of the Foreign Trade Act, according to the authority.

Four other suspects are being investigated for aiding and abetting. They are said to have acted as guards and received money for it.

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Officials from the federal police, the local police and the tax authorities of Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia were also involved in the action. Previously, the “Spiegel”, the Bavarian Radio and the Central German Radio had reported.

The 69-year-old Usmanow had shifted amounts in the tens of millions through his network of companies, most of which were located in tax havens, according to the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office. “There is a suspicion that the sums of money transferred came from criminal offenses, in particular from tax evasion offenses,” said the statement by the public prosecutor’s office and the BKA. It is about the years from 2017 to 2022. According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, a tax consultant office was also searched.

Alisher Usmanov is considered Putin’s straw man

Usmanov is considered a close supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukraine policy. The European Union therefore imposed sanctions a few days after Russia attacked the neighboring country on February 28.

The resolution states that Usmanov served as a straw man for Putin and solved his business problems. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, people repeatedly demonstrated in front of the oligarch’s villa in Rottach-Egern.

oligarch

Alisher Usmanov received the Order of Beneficence (Charity) in the Kremlin in January.

(Photo: dpa)

Because of the sanctions, the authorities also arrested the luxury yacht “Dibar” in April, which is the most expensive yacht in the world with an estimated value of more than 500 million euros. The owner is said to be Usmanow’s sister. On Wednesday night, the boat was moved from Hamburg to Bremen by tugs from the dry dock of a shipyard.

According to the “Spiegel”, the federal government froze assets of Russian citizens in Germany of at least 4.88 billion euros until mid-September. The news magazine refers to a document from the Federal Ministry of Economics.

Usmanov made a fortune with a company empire, especially in the metal and steel industry. In 2018 he sold his stake in the English football club Arsenal London for around 600 million euros.

According to research by the broadcasters BR and MDR, the German authorities are targeting Usmanow because he has apparently been staying in his house in Rottach-Egern regularly for a long time since 2016 and could therefore have been taxable in Germany.

More: Gaps in the system: why the sanctions against the oligarchs are not effective enough

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