The war in Ukraine has made life very difficult for Russian tycoons with properties in the West. This is the case of Aleksei Kuzmichov, a powerful banker considered close to Vladimir Putin, who was arrested on Monday in the town of Saint-Tropez, on the French Riviera. The oligarch is being questioned in Paris for alleged crimes of money laundering, tax fraud and violation of the sanctions imposed on Russia.
The French authorities placed Kuzmichov in the spotlight from shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. Two yachts owned by him, named La petite ourse (the little bear) and La petite ourse II were placed under judicial seizure in March 2022 under the application of European Union sanctions. The boats, 24 and 16.5 meters long, are valued, respectively, at 4 and 1.2 million euros. They are moored in the ports of Antibole and Cannes. The 61-year-old oligarch filed an appeal to avoid being included in the sanctions. The decision must be announced on November 15. Kuzmichov claims he was already in France when the Russian invasion took place and has family ties to the country.
The wealthy businessman is one of the main shareholders of the conglomerate Alfa Group, which includes Alfa Bank. He is believed to be one of the most influential figures in Russia, with connections to the Kremlin. Putin's eldest daughter, Maria, developed a charity project financed by Alfa Bank.
According to the newspaper Le Monde, which was the first medium to uncover the news, this is one of the hardest blows in France towards the Russian oligarchs. In the course of the investigations of the National Financial Prosecutor, the estate of Saint-Tropez, of more than two hectares, and a building also owned by the billionaire in the central 7th district of Paris, between the National Assembly and the Quai, were searched d'Orsay, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Saint-Tropez operation, given the extent of the area, required the mobilization of around sixty agents and judicial officials, including forty members of elite police units such as the RAID. Amounts of cash were found during the search.
The Kremlin was forced to react, a clear proof of the relevance of the detainee. The same spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, recalled that they must be informed through diplomatic channels of the arrest of a Russian citizen and that, when they receive the official communication, if the interested party wants, "obviously we will help him to protect their rights".
