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Russian billionaire Rybolovlev denies any allegations of wrongdoing

According to his representative Dmitry Chechkin, the businessman has no plans to sell the AS Monaco Football Club

Dmitry Rybolovlev EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

Dmitry Rybolovlev

© EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev who is under judicial control in Monaco and is currently in Moscow, denies any allegations of his involvement in wrongdoing, his representative Dmitry Chechkin told TASS.

"During the court proceedings, Dmitry Rybolovlev has no intention to provide any comments regarding either them, or his state of affairs in Monaco. He considers it necessary to provide the law enforcement agencies with the opportunity to do their work. However, Mr. Rybolovlev resoundingly denies any allegations that he could be involved in any inappropriate or reprehensible actions," he said.

According to Chechkin, the businessman has no plans to sell the AS Monaco Football Club "and intends to continue supporting its development as he has always been doing since the club’s acquisition in 2011."

Dmitry Rybolovlev, 51, who is ranked 18th in the Forbes list of the "200 richest businessmen in Russia in 2018," was detained in Monaco for questioning on November 6. His residence La Belle Epoque was searched. Among those detained were Rybolovlev’s lawyer Tatiana Bersheda and several high-ranking judicial officials of Monaco. All of them are suspected of corruption.

After being questioned all those involved were set free but placed under judicial control. According to Nice-Matin newspaper, Rybolovlev faces charges of active influence peddling, active corruption and complicity in the breach of confidentiality of inquiry.

Monaco-gate

A year ago, Monaco’s ex-Minister of Justice, Philippe Narmino, an influential figure in Monaco’s political circles, had to resign in what the French press dubbed ‘Monaco-gate’ shortly after Le Monde’s publication alleging that the minister had received presents from Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and had spent leisure time at his Swiss residence. Shortly after stepping down, Narmino was taken into temporary custody.

Le Monde and other French media claimed that Rybolovlev and his team had exerted serious pressure on Monaco’s investigative bodies and police to help him secure a favorable outcome in a litigation with Swiss art dealer and collector Yves Bouvier.

The Russian mogul claimed Bouvier had overpriced 37 artworks by famous early 20th century artists and thus had swindled him out of about one billion euro. Bouvier, in turn, claimed that Rybolovlev had colluded with Monegasque police to "lure" him to Monaco to be arrested.

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