Employees of the German Central Sanctions Service (ZfS) and German customs officers conducted a search at the villa of oligarch Alisher Usmanov in the Bavarian city of Rottach-Egern on Lake Tegernsee. This was reported by sources from Reuters and Bild.
According to Bild, five cars were seized during the search, including a Mercedes Maybach S500 worth about 140,000 euros and a Mercedes Brabus van worth about 180,000 euros, as well as other material assets.
Employees of the Central Sanctions Service, without specifying the name of the owner of the villa, confirmed to Reuters information about the search in Rottach-Egern. They reported that the cases of sanctioned Russians are being dealt with by a specially created Matryoshka commission. Usmanov's representatives did not answer the agency's journalists' questions.
In May 2022, the New York Times wrote that Usmanov owns three villas on the shores of the Bavarian Lake Tegernsee. Residents of Rottach-Egern told reporters that the oligarch visited the city at least three times a year. The last time he came there was probably in February last year.
After the release of the New York Times material, Usmanov’s press service reported that his real estate in Bavaria was transferred to family trusts several years ago in a “fully transparent and legal” manner. According to Forbes, Rottach-Egern holds “a special place in his heart.” The oligarch hopes to return there “after justice is restored and restrictions against him are lifted.”
This is not the first search that took place in real estate in Germany that is associated with Usmanov. In September 2022, German security forces searched the same villa in Rottach Egern and 23 other properties in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg.
German authorities suspect the oligarch, who came under EU restrictions immediately after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, of violating the sanctions regime. According to investigators, Alisher Usmanov paid for the protection of his property after he was included in the sanctions list.