NewsItaly seizes $58M in assets from Russian tycoon amid fraud probe

Italy seizes $58M in assets from Russian tycoon amid fraud probe

The Italian Financial Guard from Florence has confiscated assets worth $58 million CAD from a Russian entrepreneur, reported the Ansa agency on Monday. This operation was conducted at the request of the Ukrainian prosecutor's office fighting corruption.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Images source: © Getty Images | Jonathan Brady - PA Images
Malwina Gadawa

Four properties worth $54 million CAD and $4 million CAD in company shares are the result of - as reported by the prosecutor's office in Kyiv - the investment of illegally obtained profits by the Russian.

The businessman is suspected in Ukraine of corrupting government officials, estimated fraud of $81 million CAD against a public company dealing with the trade of agricultural products, and money laundering.

Part of the illegally obtained funds were subsequently invested by the Russian citizen through a Florence-based company, purchasing a luxury property in Tuscany.

Ukraine awaits frozen Russian funds

On May 21, the Council of the European Union approved a plan to allocate profits generated by frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine. These will be transferred to Kyiv through a specially created Ukraine Relief Fund (URF).

The first instalment of interest from frozen Russian assets will likely reach Ukraine next month.

Russian assets worth approximately $432 billion CAD are to remain frozen until Russia pays for the damages inflicted on Ukraine. According to World Bank estimates, the reconstruction of Ukraine will cost about $716 billion CAD.