German authorities have launched a criminal probe targeting two investigators in Frankfurt after Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov filed a complaint over violation of his rights, Bild reported on Wednesday, citing the general prosecutor’s office.
A criminal case was initiated against two public prosecutors on the basis of pleas lodged by two people, according to the office’s spokesman, Dominique Mies, who said that one of the complainants is a “70-year-old businessman from the Russian Federation.”
Usmanov’s representative confirmed his filing the complaint, but refused to provide further comments “while legal proceedings are ongoing,” Russian business daily RBK reported.
The case was launched on suspicion of non-cooperation with public justice and prosecution of the innocent, Bild wrote, adding that Usmanov’s appeal is linked to raids on his properties in Germany carried out in 2022 and declared illegal by a regional court in Frankfurt last May.
The Frankfurt court previously ruled that searches conducted in the city of Rottach-Eggern, on a yacht in Hamburg, and at the apartment of Usmanov’s friends were illegal, pointing to “serious deficiencies” in the warrants requested by Frankfurt’s Public Prosecutor’s Office at the time.
The court also invalidated a search at the offices of the businessman’s lawyers in Munich. Commenting on the ruling, Usmanov’s representative said that it confirmed the “baselessness of accusations” against him.
The Uzbek-born businessman holds a major stake in USM, a Russian investment group with holdings in Metalloinvest, one of the world’s largest iron ore producers, and telecommunications company MegaFon. Usmanov, whose net worth totals $14.4 billion according to Forbes, was added to the US, UK, and EU sanctions lists in 2022. Authorities froze some of the billionaire’s assets.
Brussels explained its blacklisting of Usmanov by saying he has “particularly close ties” with Russian authorities and actively supports Moscow’s policies in relation to Ukraine.
The tycoon lodged an objection with the European Court of Justice, but his appeal was dismissed. German investigators suspect Usmanov of money laundering and tax evasion. The businessman has denied the allegations.
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