This is our business

The case against a member of the Council of the Federation from Dagestan, billionaire Suleiman Kerimov may be investigated in Russia, excited in France. The corresponding request to the French authorities has already been prepared, said Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika after negotiations in Lyon with the Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock, Interfax reports .

"There is an international mechanism: if a Russian citizen commits a crime in another country, we have the right to request a criminal case in order to attract this person, if he committed a crime, already in his country, in accordance with our legislation," Chaika said.

The seagull called the “wrong” actions of the French authorities against Kerimov. “There must be some mechanisms that restrain the factors, since he represents the interests of a large group of the population, he is a senator, a chosen person,” said the Prosecutor General. “It is not quite the right practice when people with special status can easily be arrested, even on suspicion of some kind of serious crime.”

On November 20, at the Nice Airport, immediately upon arrival at France, Kerimov was detained and delivered to the police station. On November 23, the court in Nice freed a billionaire from custody on bail of 5 million euros with a ban on leaving the Primorsky Alps Department. A Russian passport was seized from the senator and obliged him to be celebrated several times a week in the police.

On November 28, the Nice Prosecutor's Office filed an appeal against the court decision. The prosecutor of the city Jean-Michel Proet said that the measures taken to restrict Kerimov’s freedom “do not seem proportionate”, given the personality and significant income of the senator. The department demanded to put him in custody again or at least stricter control Kerimov’s movements.

The French judicial authorities accuse Kerimov of non-payment of taxes for 400 million euros due to the underestimation of the cost of real estate transactions. Also, allegations in the case were brought by the French realtor who worked with Kerimov, and Cedric Fozer, who, according to investigators, belong to the senator. Fozher was released from custody on bail of 140 thousand euros.

On December 4, PRETR said that the Senator also charged the legalization of money illegally imported into the country for a total of 500 to 750 million euros . According to investigators, Kerimov imported these funds to France in cash, and also listed in non -cash form. Then, law enforcement officers say, they were legalized to buy real estate.

On December 4, 13 cavaliers of the Order of the Honorary Legion, including billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, publisher Irina Prokhorova, head of Sberbank German Gref, directors Pavel Lungin and Andrei Konchalovsky, signed an open letter to the French embassy in Moscow in defense of Kerimov . “We assure that Kerimov will fully cooperate with the investigation. We are ready to provide any other guarantees that will be necessary in order to ensure a worthy and humane appeal with Mr. Kerimov,” the letter says. The authors of the appeal are sure that the senator "respects the law" and will take all measures "to fully comply with French laws."

On December 6, the Court of Appeal of the city of ex-en-Provence left Karimov at large, but increased the amount of collateral from 5 to 40 million euros . In addition, the court ordered Kerimov to move to Nice, while he lived a friend of the village. The prosecutor -officer insisted on replacing the non -seizure subscriptions, or to increase the collateral to 50 million euros.

On February 15, the French police searched Hier villa in the vicinity of Nice . Law enforcement officers tried to find documents about the real owner of Hier, the area of ​​which is 12 thousand square meters. Nominally, the villa is owned by the Swiss financier Alexander Studhalter, but it was assumed that in reality its owner was Kerimov. There was also a suspicion that Karimov also belonged to several surrounding villas, also decorated on Studhalter. As expected, these objects were purchased at a low value with the transfer of part of the money to sellers bypassing the tax authorities of France.

In 2016, 51-year-old Kermimov in the Forbes rating and took 45th place. His assets were estimated at 1.6 billion dollars. According to media reports, the Kerimov family belongs to the company Polyus Gold and the Sinema-Park network of cinemas. He also controls the financial and industrial group "Nafta-Moscow". In addition, the businessman previously owned the Uralkali shares, VTB and the peak group, and in 2011-2016 he owned the Anji Makhachkala football club. In 2008, Kerimov became a member of the Council. Before that, he was a deputy of the State Duma from the LDPR.