Houses on Tegernsee lake, in the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany, among them at least three owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov (first row, right, and first row, sixth from right). Getty.
Houses on Tegernsee lake, in the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany, among them at least three owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov (first row, right, and first row, sixth from right). Getty.
Houses on Tegernsee lake, in the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany, among them at least three owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov (first row, right, and first row, sixth from right). Getty.
Houses on Tegernsee lake, in the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany, among them at least three owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov (first row, right, and first row, sixth from right). Getty.

German police raid estate of Putin-linked oligarch Alisher Usmanov


Neil Murphy
  • English
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German police raided the lakeside residence of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov on Wednesday, along with several other properties, as part of investigations into suspected sanctions breaches and money laundering.

The searches focused on two properties belonging to a Russian businessman, 69, in the Bavarian district of Miesbach, the BKA federal police said.

Police did not identify the suspect. However, sources close to the investigation have revealed him to be Mr Usmanov, a Uzbek-born ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and former president of the International Fencing Federation.

Mr Usmanov, who is active across a broad range of business sectors and has a net worth of $14.6 billion, Forbes has reported, is at the centre of two separate investigations into his finances in Germany.

The prosecutor general's office in Frankfurt said the raids had focused on a Russian businessman suspected of having used his "extensive and complex network of companies and corporations" to disguise the origins of several transactions of funds between 2017 and 2022.

The transactions are believed to have amounted to a multi-digit-million-euro sum, the prosecutor said.

Initial reports claim investigators are pursuing allegations of tax evasion and money laundering. Alisher Usmanov owns a total of four villas on lake Tegernsee. Getty.
Initial reports claim investigators are pursuing allegations of tax evasion and money laundering. Alisher Usmanov owns a total of four villas on lake Tegernsee. Getty.

The Munich state prosecutor said earlier on Wednesday that comprehensive raids were carried out at the residence of a Russian citizen and four other suspects, without identifying Mr Usmanov.

The Russian national is suspected of having recruited a security firm to observe properties in Upper Bavaria financially linked to him. This was even after he was added to the EU sanctions list, the prosecutor said.

His payment of the security firm is thought to have flouted a ban on the use of frozen funds, it added.

German broadcasters BR and MDR first reported the tax evasion raids against Mr Usmanov, who was added to the Western sanctions list after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Planes grounded by coronavirus

British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China 

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30

Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong

Ai Seoul:  Suspended all flights to China

Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March

Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February

South Korea's Asiana Airlines,  Jeju Air  and Jin Air: Suspend all flights

Australia men's Test cricket fixtures 2021/22

One-off Test v Afghanistan:
Nov 27-Dec 1: Blundstone Arena, Hobart

The Ashes v England:
Dec 8-12: 1st Test, Gabba, Brisbane
Dec 16-20: 2nd Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide (day/night)
Dec 26-30: 3rd Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Jan 5-9, 2022: 4th Test, Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Jan 14-18: 5th Test, Optus Stadium, Perth

The biog

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Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.

Gothia Cup 2025

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.

The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books

ARABIAN GULF LEAGUE FIXTURES

Thursday, September 21
Al Dahfra v Sharjah (kick-off 5.35pm)
Al Wasl v Emirates (8.30pm)

Friday, September 22
Dibba v Al Jazira (5.25pm)
Al Nasr v Al Wahda (8.30pm)

Saturday, September 23
Hatta v Al Ain (5.25pm)
Ajman v Shabab Al Ahli (8.30pm)

While you're here
Updated: September 21, 2022, 2:14 PM`