If you have a lot, you can lose a lot: Due to the sanctions, the Russian billionaire Alisher Burkhanovitch Usmanov has been the focus of the western world since the beginning of the year. His yacht, his houses – everything comes under the magnifying glass. The star he lets know: This is all insulting and inaccurate.
Things have become economically uncomfortable for him in the West since the outbreak of war in Ukraine: Alisher Burkhanovitch Usmanov, a native of Uzbek, a Russian businessman and owner of USM Holding, a company with countless companies in its portfolio. Once it paid off: Usmanow was recently credited with a fortune of more than 13 billion US dollars, he is said to own many well-known works of art, one of the largest yachts in the world and expensive villas all over the world.
money laundering and sanctions violations
However, Usmanov apparently has difficulty explaining these possessions, insofar as he attributes them to himself at all. According to a report by “” only yesterday, officials from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) searched locations of the major Swiss bank UBS. The goal: to find evidence of money laundering proceedings in order to be able to prosecute the Russian billionaire.
In total, there is a sum of more than half a billion euros that Usmanow is said to owe to the German tax authorities alone – among other things because of evaded taxes. There are also penalties for missing goods declarations and other offenses. According to information from “Spiegel”, the officials received nine suspicious reports of money laundering from UBS, some of which are directed at Usmanov himself and some of which are said to be connected to his numerous letterbox companies.
As early as September, investigators had therefore entered villas on Lake Tegernsee, searched the mega yacht “Dilbar” and recently turned an art warehouse in Hamburg upside down, where paintings worth several million euros were found. These, too, are said to belong to Usmanov and actually belong to the decoration of his yacht. The oligarch defends himself against these accusations and proceedings from afar, he is said to be currently in Uzbekistan.
Usmanov’s spokesman speaks up
Alisher Usmanov’s spokesman also reports from the capital, Tashkent star faced with the allegations and the recent searches. In a one-page document available to the editors, the billionaire describes his situation as follows:
“Mr. Usmanov and his representatives have not received any official communications on the matter and cannot comment on the ongoing investigation. As we have previously explained, there is no basis for speculation about Mr. Usmanov’s alleged illegal activities and suspicions of money laundering. “
It continues: “Mr. Usmanov has disclosed all information about his income and expenses to the relevant authorities since the mid-2000s, and this information has been confirmed by international auditors from the Big Four accounting firms. The origin of his money is completely transparent.”
Sanctions for billionaires
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Regarding the tax liability in Germany, the entrepreneur comments as follows: “We have previously pointed out that since 2014 Mr. Usmanov has been paying taxes in the country where his main investments were made, ie in the Russian Federation. This closed a double taxation of his income in Germany in accordance with the double taxation agreement between Germany and Russia. Mr. Usmanov visited Germany primarily for medical, rehabilitation and recreational reasons.”
Oligarchs are the others
For Putin’s confidante, this paints a similar picture to that of fellow oligarch Andrei Melnichenko star portrayed. In early March, Melnichenko said: “We will challenge these unfounded and unjustified sanctions and believe that the rule of law and common sense will prevail. Andrey Melnichenko is a self-made international businessman, entrepreneur and investor in children’s education. He has no political ties.”
Usmanow made a very similar statement. His spokesman writes: “Any suggestion of ‘money laundering’ or ‘opaque’ or ‘dubious’ origin and ‘concealment’ of his funds is therefore false and defamatory to Mr. Usmanov’s reputation. As for the EU’s characterization of Mr. Usmanov, we can Let’s state the following: Mr. Usmanov built his capital through entrepreneurial activity as well as through successful international investments. He never participated in the privatization process in Russia, which for many Russian ‘oligarchs’ was the main source of their wealth.”
Oligarchs are always the others – this is how almost every answer of the Russian billionaires can be summarized. The EU meanwhile sees it differently. Among other things, Usmanov is described there as follows: “Alisher Usmanov is a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has been described as one of Vladimir Putin’s favorite oligarchs. He is considered one of the Russian businessmen involved in managing financial flows but whose position depends on the will of the President. According to reports, Mr. Usmanov has represented President Putin and solved his business problems.”
Several processes in parallel
But the ongoing proceedings are not about his role after the collapse of the Soviet Union or Putin. In the future, it will be clarified there whether Usmanov has laundered money in the last five years and whether he violated the foreign trade law after being included on the EU sanctions list. In this second trial, he is accused of violating the prohibition on disposal of frozen funds by paying a security company to monitor his villa on Tegernsee.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
