Police and tax authorities are searching several real estate properties of billionaire Alisher Usmanov in Germany, the German publication Der Spiegel reports.
The Uzbek-born businessman is suspected of tax evasion and money laundering. According to the publication, over the past eight years, the oligarch has not paid taxes worth about 555 million euros.
"The purpose of the raid is to search for evidence related to the cases closed against Usmanov on suspicion of violating the law on foreign trade, money laundering and tax evasion," the report said.
The article says that the investigation gathered information about Usmanov for several years. At the moment, the police are searching the house of the oligarch in Bavaria.
On September 21, special task forces of the German police obtained a warrant to search three more houses of Osmanov in Rottach-Egern. 250 police officers are participating in the inspections.
After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the European Union introduced sanctions against the Russian billionaire. At the moment, according to the publication, Usmanov is in Uzbekistan. Germany's Office for the Fight against Serious and Organized Crime has collected about 100 reports on suspected money laundering from banks, which are said to be related to Usmanov's operations.
Billionaire Alisher Usmanov, the founder of USM Holdings, was hit with EU sanctions on February 28, four days after the start of the Russian operation in Ukraine. Dissatisfied with this decision of Brussels, the businessman appealed to the European Court of Common Jurisdiction at the beginning of May. He asked the court to suspend the sanctions pending a final decision on the appeal. USA, Canada, Great Britain and Japan have imposed sanctions against Usmanov.
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