Has a Putin associate been caught red-handed laundering money in France?
Has a Putin associate been caught red-handed laundering money in France? Investigators in France are currently going through the books of Ruslan Goryukhin and Mikhail Opengeym. They are notably looking at how the two Russians financed a series of properties and luxury cars in the French Riviera. They include properties in the exclusive Saint-Raphaël area.
"The procedure covers the terms of acquisition of real estate, through the use of loans granted by private companies, domiciled in Cyprus or the British Virgin Islands," explained the Paris prosecutor's office, that has carried out searches both in notarial offices in the Alpes-Maritimes region and at the homes of the accused.
According to a report in Nice-Matin, this has led to three properties and cars totalling 70 million euros being confiscated. One villa was purchased for 12 million euros. Goryukhin works in the Russian energy field and headed SGM, a company owned by a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Both Russians also hold Cypriot passports, which again puts the spotlight on how non-EU nationals acquire Cypriot nationality.
(ML. Source Nice Matin. Photo: Noah Josue / Unsplash)