German police came with searches to the branches of the Swiss bank UBS in Frankfurt and Munich as part of the investigation into the case against Alisher Usmanov. It is reported by RBC. The entrepreneur is suspected of tax evasion and money laundering, the German Prosecutor General's Office said.
Investigative measures concern the work of UBS bank with private clients. According to Der Spiegel, the police are looking for evidence of money laundering. Bank employees themselves are not accused in the case.
In a conversation with RBC, Usmanov's representative categorically denied the accusations against the businessman. “Usmanov is a law-abiding and conscientious taxpayer who has paid taxes in Russia,” he said.
On November 8, the police of German Hamburg seized 30 paintings from the arrested yacht of the Russian oligarch, including the work of Marc Chagall. The businessman had to notify the German authorities about his assets, as he is under EU sanctions. It probably never happened. The total cost of all paintings is about €1 million.
At the end of September, the German police raided three of Usmanov's villas in the Bavarian commune of Rottach-Egern. The oligarch is suspected of tax evasion, money laundering and violating German legislation on foreign trade and payments. According to Der Spiegel, he may have evaded €555 million in taxes on income and gifts during 2014-2022.
A representative of the billionaire said that Usmanov has been paying taxes in Russia since 2014 and, thanks to the double taxation agreement, he was not required to pay income tax in Germany.