Co-founder of Alfa Group and LetterOne holding Mikhail Fridman was detained at his own villa in London, according to TASS with reference to a source close to the billionaire.
“Friedman was detained by the police,” the source said, adding that he did not know anything about the reasons for the detention.
“But, according to our information, he has been released on bail for now,” the source added.
“Wealthy Russian businessman”
National Crime Agency Russian-businessman-arrested-on-suspicion-of-multiple-offences” target=”_blank”> reported on December 3 about the arrest of a “wealthy Russian businessman”. His name was not given, but the detainee’s age matched that of Fridman. The businessman is suspected of a number of offenses, including money laundering, conspiracy to deceive the Ministry of the Interior and conspiracy to give false evidence. -ti and 39 years old. Their names have also not been released. All three have already been released on bail.
About 50 agency employees and police officers participated in the operation.
“We will continue to use all the forces and tactics available to us to eliminate this threat,” he promised, adding that the NCA plans to investigate “less traditional” ways to hide wealth, such as selling high-value assets through auctions. at home.
“Everything is in order”
The press service of Alfa-Bank does not confirm the information about the detention of Fridman.
“We do not know who this news is about, Mikhail Fridman is at home, not under arrest. He has nothing to do with this story, ”the credit institution said in a comment.
Friedman himself agreed to talk to the magazine Russia/46419″ target=”_blank”> Forbes, but when asked to confirm or deny the detention, he answered evasively: “I’m fine, I’m meeting with friends on the weekend.”
Embassy reaction
Russian Embassy in Great Britain demanded that the authorities of the country immediately notify the diplomats of the reasons and circumstances of the detention of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
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The embassy also demanded that the British authorities provide consular staff, as well as lawyers, with access to the detainee .
EU sanctions and income cuts
After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, the European Union imposed sanctions against Russian officials, businessmen and journalists. Fridman, having been blacklisted, like his colleague Pyotr Aven, immediately resigned from the board of directors of Alfa-Bank. decreased by $75.1 billion, RIA Novosti calculated based on data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which includes 23 Russians. Their total fortune as of December 1, 2022 is $296.03 billion
billion). The second line is occupied by the owner of Novatek, Leonid Mikhelson, whose fortune decreased by $5.07 billion to $27.4 billion.
Fridman is in tenth place. Since the beginning of the year, he has lost $2.59 billion, his fortune is estimated at $11.4 billion.