He was found guilty of aggravated money laundering and smuggling prohibited goods. A 58-year-old Russian businessman was tried Monday and Tuesday in his absence before the specialized interregional jurisdiction (Jirs) in Rennes. Justice accused this Moscow oligarch of having laundered several million euros resulting from tax fraud committed in Russia between 2010 and 2013.
To do this, he channeled the funds through the accounts of off-shore shell companies registered in the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus before paying them into the account of two companies of which he was the manager: one which managed two jewelry stores in Paris and Courchevel and the other who owned the Beaumanoir estate and its castle in the town of Leslay (Côtes-d’Armor).
A customs fine of 1.4 million euros
The businessman had also “covertly imported several hundred pieces of jewelry into these two jewelry stores, without respecting legal formalities and without reliable accounting, between 2010 and 2013,” specifies Philippe Astruc, Rennes public prosecutor. .
At the end of the hearing, the Breton castle and the Russian oligarch’s jewelry were confiscated by the courts. He was also sentenced to two years in prison, a customs fine of 1.4 million euros and banned from French territory for five years. His lawyer appealed this decision.