Bercy raided in a money laundering investigation targeting a Russian billionaire

"The searches should help us understand the tax scheme" involving luxury villas on the French Riviera, "with an estimated stake of more than €38 million," the public prosecutor said. These villas were "declared under false names in order to conceal the true owner, who was a Russian national."

The judicial investigation is being conducted by the National Jurisdiction responsible for Organized Crime Cases (Junalco).

According to Le Monde, the search took place at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Public Finances.

According to the newspaper, investigators are also interested in an agreement concluded between the Russian Suleiman Kerimov and the French tax authorities in 2019.

With a net worth estimated at more than $16 billion by the 2020 Forbes ranking, Mr. Kerimov, originally from Dagestan, is one of Russia's richest men. He has been on the European Union's list of individuals under sanctions whose assets must be frozen since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

According to Nikita Sichov, his lawyer, the tax negotiation with the French administration was based in particular on a "restructuring" which consisted of having the villas on Cap d'Antibes bought by companies owned by Gulnara Kerimova, Mr. Kerimov's daughter, "who has since paid an annual sum exceeding 4 million" in wealth taxes.
real estate.

The French justice system has been investigating Mr. Kerimov for years.

The case began in Nice in 2014 at a random drug squad hideout. Suspicious cash movements were detected, and the trail led back to the Russian oligarch, notably concerning the 2008 purchase of the villa "Hier" in Antibes for €35 million, an underreported amount compared to the €127 million actually paid, according to investigators.

Notaries, real estate agents, lawyers, administrators: many local figures had been indicted and some still are today.

In November 2017, the billionaire's arrest as he stepped off a jet in Nice was heavily criticized by Moscow. The prosecutor's office estimated at the time that the amount of illegal money entering France was between 500 million and 750 million euros.

His lawyers had managed to have his indictment overturned.

In August 2022, the Nice prosecutor's office confirmed that it had received a Tracfin report concerning him in June of the same year, which could lead to further investigations.