Tag: Alisher Usmanov

Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, one of the wealthiest and most controversial figures on global sanctions lists, has filed a lawsuit against banking giant UBS. Usmanov accuses the bank of violating banking secrecy, spreading false allegations, and triggering a chain of events that led to his global sanctioning. The case promises to expose the intersection of banking compliance, geopolitics, and billionaire wealth.

In an interesting development amid the Western sanctions against Russia, German prosecutors have dropped a high-profile money laundering case against Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov. This decision, claimed by his legal team as a vital step in clearing Usmanov's name, follows over two years of investigation without sufficient evidence to support the accusations.

In a legal twist that promises to shed light on the intricacies of money laundering reports, Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov has filed a lawsuit against UBS Europe SE in Frankfurt. This high-profile case, represented by the German law firm Gauweiler & Sauter, accuses UBS of making unlawful reports to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which led to criminal investigations and significant reputational damage for Usmanov.

The recent legal action by Russian multi-billionaire Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov against UBS Europe SE in Frankfurt has brought attention to allegedly absurd money laundering reports. Usmanov's lawsuit centers on allegations that UBS Germany made over a dozen "illegal reports" to the German FIU from 2015 to 2018, which flagged "allegedly suspicious transactions," are claimed to have triggered criminal investigations against Usmanov.

The sanctions against Russian Putin friends will not be lifted anytime soon. In a ruling on February 7, the European Union's judiciary maintained sanctions against the Russian-Uzbek oligarch Alisher Usmanov, rejecting his appeal to be struck from the EU's sanctions list. These sanctions were initially imposed on Usmanov, alongside other prominent Russian oligarchs and officials, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A Definitive Ruling on Usmanov's Alleged Ties to Putin As reported by FinCrime Observer, the Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov secured...

Everton Football Club's owner, Farhad Moshiri, reportedly received over £400m from companies linked to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov before Usmanov faced sanctions. According to The Guardian, Moshiri borrowed £145m from a Usmanov-owned company around 2020. Between 2018 and 2022, Moshiri sold shares worth about £270m in a company where Usmanov was the primary shareholder. They might have been gifted to him.

Russia’s ultra-rich have seen their wealth swell over the past year despite punishing Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. CEO Magazine has published a new ranking of the richest Russians. The ranking is headed by Andrey Melnichenko, with an estimated net worth of $24.4 billion, followed by Vladimir Potanin, with a net worth of $23.7 billion, and Vladimir Lisin, with $22.1 billion.

Cyprus, the small Mediterranean island nation, has seen a significant influx of wealthy Russians over the past few decades. This migration has transformed parts of the island into what can be described as a "Little Russia," with Russian businesses, restaurants, and cultural centers becoming commonplace. But what does this mean for Cyprus, and the broader geopolitical landscape, especially in light of the Western sanctions against Russia due to the Ukraine invasion?

In the wake of the "crazy war" in Ukraine, the Russian oligarchs are the strategic focus of the Western sanctions aimed at exerting pressure on the Russian government. Most recently, Oleg Tinkov, an oligarch excommunicated by the Kremlin, has called his former comrades cowards and urged them to take action against Putin. However, according to the latest Forbes statistics, Russian billionaires have become significantly richer since the outbreak of the Ukraine invasion.

On April 12 and 13, the US and the UK included 13 Cypriot lawyers and accountants in their sanctions lists for facilitating Russian oligarchs. The measures are aimed to dismantle the financial networks of Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov. 10,000 bank accounts and other assets belonging to their alleged “financial fixers” were frozen. The sanctions also signal (finally) that the Western allies will no longer look the other way when Cyprus breaks the sanction game's rules.

The Guardian reports that Italian law enforcement has seized villas and yachts worth at least €140m from four Russian oligarchs, placed on an EU sanctions list after Russia invaded Ukraine. They forfeited a villa owned by the billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov on Sardinia and a villa on Lake Como owned by Vladimir Soloviev. They also seized superyachts belonging to Russia's richest man, Alexei Mordashov and Gennady Timchenko. The hunting season against the Russian kleptocrats continues.