German police raid properties linked to Putin ally Usmanov

Hundreds of police officers raided two dozen properties across Germany linked to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin

The searches were undertaken in connection with alleged breaches of sanctions and money-laundering rules, officials said.

State and federal police were searching 24 properties in Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, prosecutors in Frankfurt and Munich said in separate statements.

The statement by Frankfurt prosecutors named the suspect only as a Russian businessman, but German weekly Der Spiegel, which first reported the raids – conducted by about 250 police officers – named him as Mr Usmanov.

Mr Usmanov is subject to sanctions in the UK, the US and the European Union.

Frankfurt prosecutors said the suspect of their investigation was alleged to have conducted several transactions between 2017 and 2022 using a complex network of offshore companies to hide the origin of the payments, which amounted to millions of euros.

“There is a suspicion that the sums transferred resulted from crimes, in particular tax evasion,” prosecutors said.

Munich prosecutors said in a statement that their investigation centred on allegations of payments being made to security companies guarding the properties, in breach of sanctions rules.