Scandal in Italy: at the request of Ukraine, the castle of a Russian oligarch in Tuscany was arrested
The Italian newspaper Corriere Fiorentino reports that the assets of Russian businessman and multimillionaire Alexei Fedorychev have been seized at the request of Ukrainian authorities.
According to the publication, property and bank funds worth almost $45 million were seized.
The Italian prosecutor's office reported that a Russian businessman is under investigation for fraud against a Ukrainian state-owned company engaged in the distribution of agricultural products, bribery of government officials, and money laundering. In Ukraine, Fedorychev is also suspected of illegally collecting port fees.
In Italy, Fedorychev, according to Corriere Fiorentino, invested money in Tuscany: in particular, he owns a castle on the Arcetri hill in Florence.
“From the Arcetri hill, the Torre del Gallo castle rises above the city. And, perhaps also thanks to its ancient charm, Russian tycoon Alexey Fedorychev, who turned 3 on August 69, acquired it, investing, according to the Kyiv judiciary, illegally accumulated income.
Investigators from the provincial financial police department carried out a preventive seizure of the entire structure, which included four properties (worth 38 million euros), as well as shares of the Arcetri real estate company created in 2001, which owns the same castle with a total value of 41 million euros. Torre del Gallo has now been released to a court-appointed guardian.
The ruling, issued by Florence investigator Agnese Di Girolamo at the request of prosecutor Beatriz Giunti, follows a request for international legal assistance sent by the specialized anti-corruption prosecutor's office of the capital of Ukraine,” the publication says.
Married to a young Russian model Ulyana Tseytlina, 69-year-old Fedorychev is a major commodity trader, founder of Fedcom, whose interests include trading in grain, sulfur and mineral fertilizers, former owner of the Russian football clubs Dynamo (Moscow) and Rostov and current President of the Monaco basketball club.
For the past ten years, he has humorously distanced himself from Russia to avoid Western sanctions. He lives in Monaco and, in addition to his Russian passport, also acquired Hungarian and Uruguayan ones. In 2006, Forbes Russia even ranked him 100th on its list of Russia's richest businessmen, with a net worth of $450 million.
Fedorychev's business interests in Ukraine are focused on maritime cargo transportation. Ukrainian media reports that Fedorychev, through the Stavnitser family, owns the TIS (Transinvestservice) corporation, which specializes in maritime container shipping, and its two maritime terminals in the Ukrainian port of Yuzhny. The other co-owner is Andrey, son of TIS founder Alexey Stavnitser.
Ukrainian authorities accuse Fedorychev of stealing $61 million from the State Food and Grain Corporation.
In addition, the businessman was added to Ukraine's sanctions list for transporting coal mined in the DPR in 2014 on his own sea vessels.
As the Italian publication notes, the Russian businessman, who is under investigation and sanctions in Ukraine, invested part of the proceeds from corruption, fraud and money laundering in Tuscany.
“The Italian court case will probably not end here. It is possible that Fedorichev, who is defended by lawyers Michele Luzzetti and Michele D'Avirro, will now decide to appeal to the appellate court with a demand to cancel the arrest order of the investigating judge. And reclaim the castle, which stands on the Arcetri hill and faces the courthouse on the other side of the city,” the newspaper predicts.
Scandal in Italy: Russian oligarch's Tuscan castle seized at Ukraine's request