In Monaco, the criminal case against Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and ex-Prosecutor General of Monaco Jean-Pierre Drenault, accused of encroaching on the privacy of Tanya Rappo and art dealer Yves Bouvier, was dropped. This is reported by Monaco-Matin. The businessman's representative confirmed this information to RBC.
“There were no facts to bring him to justice. The investigating judges took this into account and made the only possible decision. There will be no trial of Dmitry Rybolovlev. He is finally acquitted,” said Rybolovlev’s lawyers Thomas Jaccardi and Martin Reynaud.
French newspapers reported the billionaire’s arrest on November 6, 2018. Le Monde wrote that Rybolovlev was suspected of trying to influence law enforcement agencies in order to prosecute Bouvier. The billionaire believes that he unreasonably inflated the prices of the paintings sold to him and estimated the damage at a billion euros. The media in France and Monaco and Bouvier’s lawyers reported that Rybolovlev had actually “privatized the principality’s justice system.”
Even before this, Rybolovlev accused Rappo of intermediary in Bouvier’s crime. It was Rappo who introduced the billionaire to art dealers in the early 2000s. In February 2017, Rybolovleva’s lawyer Tatyana Bersheda gave the security forces a recording of a conversation between Rappo and Bouvier at dinner, which she considered evidence of their cooperation. Then Rappo filed a complaint against Bersheda, her client and the prosecutor general for violating the right to respect for private and family life.
As RBC notes, the case against Bersheda remains open, although the prosecution has asked for the case against her to be dropped.