Will sanctions be enough to stop wealthy Russian oligarchs?
They are paid “millions to hide trillions” and hold influence at the very top – but Russia’s oligarchs are about to be cut off. . .
These provide and operate anonymous shell companies, trusts and offshore accounts that hide dirty money.
“Some elites pay respected professionals and businesses to open political doors, to lobby against sanctions, to fight legal battles and to launder money and reputations,” Professor Tasse says. “In doing so, these institutions and individuals push the boundaries of the law and degrade the principles of our democracy.”
It’s not just about tax havens like the British Virgin Islands.
The Australian Banking Royal Commissionrevealed widespread blindness to dirty money among the “Big Five” banks. Transactions that triggered all the alarm bells for money laundering were ignored. Evidence of fraud and manipulation was exposed.
Identifying political influence, however, is an even more complicated matter.
Australia faces embarrassment of being placed on “grey list” of countries that don’t meet international anti-money laundering standards
An Australian journalist should ask the Prime Minister and/or Foreign Minister why they have chosen not to sanction either Oleg Deripaska or Viktor Vekselberg, two Russian oligarchs sanctioned by the US with significant financial interests in the Australian resources sector
My cousin who owns hairdressing salon lives in Lugano and I visited her fairytale lake city in 1990s and 2000s.
History repeating itself as Russia is now the same as Germany after World War I, rather than after World War II, and one wonders whether Putin will face the same fate as Hitler and his puppets?
In 2018 Putin reportedly said: “I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected,” he said. “I have always reacted negatively to those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others’ lives.”
Ironically and hypocritically, as KGB agent based in East Germany Putin prowled through everyone’s personal life and issued orders for arrests and even assassinations - It is a little known fact that mad Vlad was second in charge in 1980 at the KGB at a time when the agency put prize on my head after my escape through Cold War River’s Iron Curtain on 7th of the 7th of that year. A well known Australian writer Anna Funder dived deep into Putin’s Stasiland
I only became interesting in tax havens like Switzerland 🇨🇭 when I heard rumours in 1984 and 1985, while I was working as Crown Emloyee at the NSW Parliamentary Library, that Lugano cafes were filled with stories that communists like Putin and Inc were moving Rubles into their personal bank accounts. And sure enough in 1990 as I was doing a display of the Fall of the Berlin Wall at the entrance of the library I manage to get some articles added by Timothy Garton Ash referring to these ‘Column 8’ type of stories. Nick Greiner kindly lend me his piece of the Berlin Wall for that Iron Curtain display … in 2022 Australia might be Putin’s and his Inc next real estate haven.
Closing Tax Havens Is the True Test of the West’s Resolve Project Syndicate. So, again, what is the City of London for, if not servicing oligarchs, including Russian ones? And will no one think of the real estate?
EXCLUSIVE: Inside the luxury life of Putin's secret girlfriend as Ukraine goes through hell
Since his marriage breakdown, Vladimir Putin has been linked to several women, including Svetlana Krivonogikh, a Russian millionaire.
Ms Krivonogikh has a 19-year-old daughter and lives in a luxury apartment in Monaco.
“While Putin carries out his assault on the Ukraine, attacking cancer hospitals as well as innocent citizens and causing a refugee crisis, his family is holed up in a very private and very secure chalet somewhere in Switzerland — for now, at least,” a source the publication Page Six.
In spotlessly-clean streets that weave between Cartier, Gucci and Louis Vuitton stores, mega-rich Russians stroll with their pampered pooches.
In February 2015, a local TV station reported that Kabeava had given birth at a private VIP maternity clinic in Sorengo, on the periphery of the city.
They were said to have reserved two rooms at the discreet private maternity hospital Clinic Sant’Anna - a favourite of wealthy Russians.
One suite was for the birth; the second for family and bodyguards.
According to insiders, President Putin was present.
The Kremlin, of course, dismissed the rumours, as it does any query about Putin’s private life.
Bathed in balmy spring sunshine this week, the contrast between the restful serenity of the Sant’Anna and the maternity hospital bombed by Russian troops in Mariupol, Ukraine, could not be more stark.
High-end clients drove expensive vehicles into an underground car park beneath a carefully manicured lawn, with a topiaried flamingo at the entrance.
Birdsong could be heard in the little vineyard nearby.
In Lugano’s glistening Piazza Della Riforma, where Kabeava is said to have been seen on occasions, grey-haired men stroll past the café terraces with statuesque supermodel girlfriends.
Occasional snippets of Russian puncture predominantly Italian background chatter.
It is a sedate place dominated by banks, pharmacies and designer goods, and restaurants with eye-wateringly expensive menus.
Above Lake Lugano, modernist four-storey villas with infinity pools are embedded into the mountains.
Their owners drive directly onto the roof, and go downstairs in private elevators.
These are perfect properties for people wanting to keep clear of prying eyes,
Alina Kabaeva is not the only person close to Putin with links to Lugano.
Oligarch Alexey Mordashov, Russia’s second-richest man with a personal fortune estimated at £22bn last year, was added to the EU sanctions list last week.
Steel and mining baron Mordashov, 56, was targeted because of Rossiya Bank, in which he has a stake.
39-year old Kabaeva, an Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast, is believed to have four children with the 69-year old Russian president.
They have 7-year-old twin daughters, who were born in the Swiss city of Lugano in February 2015 and they are believed to also have two boys, although their ages or existence have never been formally confirmed. All four children hold Swiss citizenship.
A source in Lugano, nearby to the Italian border, said: “Before the coronavirus pandemic there was often gossip about Putin’s mistress being in town. They are known to have strong connections here, but anyone who knows them has been sworn to secrecy.
An activist has reportedly raided and taken control of a mansion owned by Vladimir Putin's daughter, Katerina Tikhonova, 35, in Biarritz, France.
Vladimir Putin's Daughter's House Raided by Activist Holding Ukraine Flag
Who are the daughters of Vladimir Putin facing US sanctions?
Putin’s girlfriend Alina and their four children go into hiding in luxury chalet in Switzerland
Russian forces opened fire on a cancer hospital in the southern city of Mykolaiv. Vice President Kamala Harris said Americans would have to pay more for gas to punish Russia.
Follow the latest updates on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
What Happened on Day 16 of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
A woman widely known as Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's daughter attended Russia's equivalent of Davos last week - but nobody there acknowledged her family relations for fear of getting in trouble with the Kremlin, The Washington Post reported.
Putin and Lyudmila Putina at their wedding, 28 July 1983
Maria Vorontsova née Mariya we Vladimirovna Putina
A new documentary reveals how the director of Russia’s only independent TV channel refused to be cowed by the Kremlin and struggled to bring the truth to her audience
There are many individual battles that tell the story of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, but few can have quite the fairytale resonance of Natalya Sindeyeva’s. A dancer as well as a defiant truth-teller, Sindeyeva has lived a life that feels a bit back to front: she first married her handsome prince and then all her struggles began.
Meet Natalya Sindeyeva – has she got news for Vladimir Putin
Maria Vorontsova, the purported elder daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, spoke to the state-owned Russian television station Rossia 1 station in early July.
A woman reported to be the elder daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been identified as a co-owner of a company that has a state tender to build what is planned to be Russia's largest oncology center, according to a July 24 BBC report
Maria Vorontsova - Report Links Putin's Purported Daughter To Landmark Russian Cancer Center Project
Reuters - not just the Star -VLADIMIR Putin has cancer - as well as symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease - and had emergency surgery in February, it was claimed today.
Political analyst Valery Solovei - whose earlier claims about the Russian strongman’s failing health were denied - also said Putin plans to announce his Kremlin exit early in the New Year.
Vladimir Putin's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine has turned Russia into a pariah state, sparking rafts of sanctions and international condemnation.
The invasion itself has not been so-far the success Putin appeared to have hoped for.
Does Vladimir Putin have health problems and why do people think he has cancer?
The health of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the man behind the invasion of Ukraine, has been called into question – but why are some people claiming Putin has cancer, and what have news outlets reported about his health?
It has been reported that Putin had placed Sergey Beseda, the head of the FSB’s foreign service, and his deputy, Anatoly Bolyukh, under house arrest after blaming them for intelligence failings that saw his army handed a series of defeats in Ukraine.
The intelligence, which is understood to have been passed to senior British political figures, suggests that Putin has suffered a psychological deterioration caused by physiological factors.
They advance theories that Putin is either suffering from a brain condition, such as Parkinson’s disease or a more generic form of dementia, or that he has cancer and the medical treatment he is receiving has altered the balance of his mind.
The last theory, which is considered credible by British intelligence, is that the mental deterioration is the consequence of so-called ‘roid rage’, caused by the prolonged use of steroids.
Coda:
In July 2013, Kabaeva reported that she did not have any children.[45][46] In March 2015, she was reported to have given birth to a daughter at the VIP-hospital of Saint Ann in Ticino, Switzerland.[47][48] In 2019, she reportedly gave birth to twin sons at the Kulakov maternity clinic in Moscow.[49][50]
Up until 2002, Kabaeva was a practicing Muslim.[51] In 2003, it was reported that she had converted to Christianity.[52]
On 28 July 1983, Putin married Lyudmila Shkrebneva, and they lived together in East Germany from 1985 to 1990. They have two daughters, Mariya Putina, born 28 April 1985 in Leningrad, and Yekaterina Putina, born 31 August 1986 in Dresden, East Germany.[600] An investigation by Proekt published in November 2020 alleged that Putin has another daughter, Elizaveta, also known as Luiza Rozova,[601](born March 2003),[602] with Svetlana Krivonogikh.[4][603]
In April 2008, the Moskovsky Korrespondentreported that Putin had divorced Lyudmila and was engaged to marry Olympic gold medalist Alina Kabaeva, a former rhythmic gymnast and Russian politician.[2] The story was denied,[2]and the newspaper was shut down shortly thereafter.[3] Putin and Lyudmila continued to make public appearances together as spouses,[604][605] while the status of his relationship with Kabaeva became a topic of speculation.[606][607] In the subsequent years, there were frequent unsubstantiated reports that Putin and Kabaeva had multiple children together, although these reports were denied.[608]
On 6 June 2013, Putin and Lyudmila announced that their marriage was over; on 1 April 2014, the Kremlin confirmed that the divorce had been finalised.[609][610][611] In 2015, Kabaeva reportedly gave birth to a daughter; Putin is alleged to be the father.[608][607][5] In 2019, Kabaeva reportedly gave birth to twin sons by Putin.[6][612]
Putin has two grandsons, born in 2012 and 2017.[613][614] His cousin, Igor Putin, was a director at Moscow-based Master Bank and was accused in a number of money laundering scandals.[615][616]
Maria Vorontsova née Mariya we Vladimirovna Putina is married to Dutch businessman Jorrit Faassen. In 2013, they were living in a penthouse atop the highest residential building in Voorschoten in the Netherlands. In 2014, Dutch residents called for Vorontsova to be expelled from the country after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.In 2015, Vorontsova and Faassen were reported to be living in Moscow.
Katerina Tikhonova née Yekaterina Vladimirovna Putina In 2013, Tikhonova married Kirill Shamalov, the son of Nikolay Shamalov, a co-owner of Rossiya Bank. He is also vice-president of Sibur Holding, which is a Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company headquartered in Moscow. The Russian government holds 38% of the shares of the gas company. At the time, the couple was estimated to hold assets worth around $2 billion. In January 2018, it was reported that Tikhonova and Shamalov had separated.
