By James Simons-
Families of Russian Oligarchs could be targeted after it was revealed that one of its wealthy kingpins with links to Putin has evaded sanctions because he is no longer the legal owner of many of his mansions.
Ex-Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov’s £82m London home and Surrey mansion were put into trusts linked to the oligarch before UK sanctions against Russian Oligarchs were imposed in response to the illegal war in Ukraine.
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Sanction experts are now considering whether some of the hot money men are a few steps ahead of the government, and if the Government needs to review its strategy to achieve the impact it hopes through sanctions. Under complex ownership structures, Mr Usmanov may have evaded the system.
James Birkett, a sanctions expert at the business intelligence firm Alaco, told The Guardian: ‘The challenge would be identifying and evidencing these relationships [between the sanctioned individual and family members and associates] – both given the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s (OFSI) well-known capacity constraints and the ability to obfuscate the ownership of assets via offshore structures.
‘It is likely that such a move would be subject to legal challenge and OFSI would want to be pretty sure it could avoid the embarrassment of being required to reverse its decision…
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‘Nobody is really going after family members yet. It would be a step-change in how the programmes have been applied.’
Among the UK properties linked to Mr Usmanov are the 16th Century Surrey estate Sutton Place, worth £34million, and the £48million Hampstead mansion Beechwood House, which he bought in 2008 while a 30 per cent shareholder of Premier League side Arsenal.
According to the Financial Times, Sutton Place is owned by Delesius Investments Limited and Bacerius Investments Limited, which are both incorporated in Cyprus.
Beechwood House is owned by Isle of Man-based Hanley Limited, according to Land Registry records.
Mr Usmanov and fellow leading oligarch and former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov were told they faced a full asset freeze and travel ban over their ‘close links to the Kremlin’.
He also sanctioned by the EU. Reports by Forbes suggested that his £437-million superyacht Dilbar had been impounded at a yard in Hamburg, Germany, last month. The reports were later updated to say that the boat’s future was ‘uncertain’ after The Guardian reported on claims by German officials that they had not seized the boat. Latest pictures show the superyacht, which is reportedly being refurbished, surrounded by scaffolding.
Speaking at the time of the sanctions, on March 3, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: ‘Sanctioning Usmanov and Shuvalov sends a clear message that we will hit oligarchs and individuals closely associated with the Putin regime and his barbarous war.
‘We won’t stop here. Our aim is to cripple the Russian economy and starve Putin’s war machine.’
The staff who are thought to number more than 20 people are all believed to be UK nationals, working either directly for Usmanov or for contracted companies.
All were based at Beechwood House in Highgate, north London, or his 16th century Sutton Place estate which is the former home of American oil tycoon J Paul Getty near Woking, Surrey.
A member of Usmanov’s staff said: ‘All cleaning staff and gardeners have been let go.
‘Obviously they’re distraught as they’ve no longer got jobs, but they did see it coming.
‘The staff have just been told they’re no longer needed. The security staff have been told to sort out their CVs and look for somewhere else.’
Another source said: ‘All these people have given years of loyal service to Usmanov and his family, and have enabled him to lead a pampered and protected life in the UK.
‘Now they are being cast aside. It is a blow for them. They are just ordinary people who happened to work for an oligarch and now they are paying the price.
‘I know the Government is trying to hit oligarchs in their pockets. But these people have now become innocent victims of that policy.’
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