MOSCOW, Nov 8 businessman Alisher Usmanov are unfounded and false, he is a conscientious taxpayer in Russia, said a representative of the businessman.
The German magazine Spiegel on Tuesday, citing its sources, reported that employees of the German Federal Criminal Police Office are currently conducting searches in the branches of the large Swiss bank UBS in Frankfurt and Munich, trying to find evidence of Usmanov's suspicion of money laundering. Bank UBS, in turn, confirmed the conduct of searches in its branches in Munich and Frankfurt am Main, and also stated that it was cooperating with the authorities on this issue.
According to Spiegel, investigators are interested in suspicious movements in bank accounts from 2018 to 2020 in the amount of more than two million euros. According to the publication, the cash transactions mainly included large cash withdrawals, as well as transfers between the shell company Omnia Services Group Ltd. and Tegernsee (IOM) Ltd. According to Spiegel, it is suspected that Usmanov was trying to move the assets and hide their actual ownership.
Usmanov's spokesman vehemently denied the allegations. «They are unfounded, false and slanderous. Usmanov is a law-abiding and conscientious taxpayer who has paid taxes in Russia. According to the representative, he is also one of the most generous philanthropists in the world,» he said in response to a request.
Earlier German The media reported that investigators in Germany seized 30 paintings by famous artists, including the work of the Russian and French expressionist Marc Chagall, previously stored on the Dilbar yacht, allegedly owned by Gulbahor Ismailova, the sister of the Russian businessman Usmanov, who fell under EU sanctions. At the same time, the businessman's press service denied the businessman's involvement in the yacht and the seized paintings.
On February 28, the EU included Usmanov in the sanctions list. Later it became known that the businessman appealed against these sanctions, his lawsuit was registered in the EU court in Luxembourg on April 29.