This investigation was entrusted to the Central Office for the Suppression of Serious Financial Crime (OCRGDF).
It comes after the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International (TIF) filed a complaint at the end of May in Paris for in particular acts of "
laundering
" targeting possible ill-gotten gains in France by "
businessmen and senior officials close to Vladimir Putin
”.
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The complaint against X of the NGO aims, in addition to money laundering, the non-justification of resources, TIF thus explaining "to
denounce the system of capture of the Russian State and national wealth by
" relatives of Mr. Putin.
According to the NGO, which does not give the names of the people targeted to "
avoid reprisals
", the system developed "
extends its ramifications to France, in the real estate sector in particular, due to a lack of vigilance intermediaries
”.
“
The ambition of the sanctions measures against Russia and the first freezing announcements come up against the difficulties of identifying the assets of the people sanctioned.
In France, as elsewhere,
“, had explained in a press release TIF, emphasizing the “
intermediaries, nominees, front companies or trusts in tax or judicial havens
”.
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Thanks to various sources, "
we were able to draw up an inventory of the real estate in France of several oligarchs and those close to the Russian regime, identify the chains of properties set up for this purpose, and bring together a body of evidence on the illicit origin resources that made it possible to acquire this heritage
", said Patrick Lefas, president of TIF.
“
The judicial chapter of the + BMA + (ill-gotten gains, Ed) of the Russian oligarchs will open (...).
The freezing measures (of assets, editor's note) intervened
"following the war in Ukraine"
will in certain cases be a factor of acceleration of the investigation and will allow vast measures of seizure and in the event of criminal condemnation, confiscations
“, argued William Bourdon, lawyer for TIF.
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Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the international community has compiled a list of names of Russian oligarchs whose assets have been frozen.
In France, several properties (villas, estates, apartments) have been identified, on the Côte d'Azur, in the Rhône-Alpes region, in Paris but also in the South-West.
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"