Kuzmichev was charged with fraud in France

Co-founder and former co-owner of Alfa Group Alexey Kuzmichev was charged with tax fraud in France. This was reported by the country’s national financial prosecutor’s office (PNF), write “RIA News”.

Kuzmichev was also charged with alleged money laundering and organizing shadow employment as part of a criminal group. Despite the fact that the prosecutor’s office requested that he be placed in pre-trial detention, he was released on bail of 8 million euros, the prosecutor’s office said.

October 30, Le Monde newspaper citing (PNF) reportedthat the police detained Kuzmichev as part of a money laundering investigation. The department clarified that the police conducted searches in his apartments, including a house in Paris and a villa in Saint-Tropez.

The businessman has been included in the sanctions list of all European Union countries since March 15, 2022, after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. In June, France’s highest court rejected Kuzmichev’s claim against the country’s government, which decided to reveal the location of his home in Paris and villa in the Riviera as part of a campaign to freeze the assets of Russian businessmen.

Kuzmichev is not the first Alfa Group leader to be persecuted abroad. On September 19, London tightened sanctions against the founder of the group, Mikhail Fridman, introducing transport restrictions. They concern ships and aircraft associated with the businessman. Prior to this, British authorities stopped investigating the businessman due to suspicions of circumventing sanctions.

British law enforcement also accused Alfa co-founder Peter Aven of violating imposed sanctions. He himself said that Western businessmen and politicians are also responsible for what is happening “no less than the so-called Russian oligarchs.”