Thread by @mopeng

German Authorities Seize $5M Art Collection owned by Alisher Usmanov. They were displayed on his superyacht, Dilbar, but had been placed in storage during its renovation. themoscowtimes.com/2022/11/08/ger…

"Investigators carried out searches of Swiss bank UBS' Munich and Frankfurt branches in connection with Usmanov, Der Spiegel reported.

A spokesperson for the AG’s office told Reuters that the searches were carried out to collect evidence in a suspected money-laundering case."

"In April, German authorities impounded Dilbar in Hamburg, where it was stationed for renovations."

Two dozen properties linked Usmanov were searched across Germany in September. German authorities previously impounded Dilbar after determining it was legally owned by his sister, Gulbakhor Ismailova, who is also subject to western sanctions. swissinfo.ch/eng/ubs-german…

offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/12014108

When Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, flew to New York to address the UN General Assembly on 19 Sept 2017, he didn't take Uzbekistan's official presidential plane. Instead, he flew on the private Airbus A340-313 of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

Mirziyoev's niece, Diyora, was married to Usmanov's nephew. The nephew, Babur Usmanov, died in a car crash in Tashkent in 2013.

Usmanov was born in the town of Chust in Uzbekistan's eastern Namangan Province in 1953. But after the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, Usmanov chose to live in Russia.

"By the late 1990s he was the general director of the state-owned energy company Gazprom’s investment arm, which he managed for more than a decade." theguardian.com/business/2022/…

Alisher Usmanov uses Bridgewaters (IOM), Isle of Man, for offshore trust services. Kanton is a shareholder of USM, DST, and other Usmanov-owned entities. They also look after his sister, Gulbakhor Ismailova's offshore entities. ICIJ chart, Dinya SA (Lux) is a Kanton shareholder.

So was Patrick James Kevans, a Dublin solicitor who was a director of Europe Steel Limited (7 March 2008 to
30 June 2011). A bunch of Russians were also directors are various times. Mikhail V Komissar (DG, Interfax Information Services Group since 1998), …te.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/039228…

Komissar's previous position, prior to his long-held Interfax role as Director-General, was Deputy Head, (Rus) Office of The President.

@StringwallApp Here's another of the people with Russian names who was a director of UK company, Europe Steel Limited, which I suspect to have been a company linked to Alisher Usmanov, who was in the 90s General Director of Gazprom Invest Holdings. Has radaris.com/p/Eugene/Moroz…

Another director of UK company Europe Steel Limited was Ardavan Farhad Moshiri, who is a British-Iranian businessman based in Monaco, chairman and a shareholder of USM, and majority owner of Premier League football club Everton, confirming that Europe Steel is owned by Usmanov.

In February 2016 it was announced that Moshiri had sold his stake in Arsenal Football Club to Red & White Holdings partner Usmanov to raise capital required for a takeover at Everton F.C.

On 27 February, the club officially confirmed Moshiri's purchase of a 49.9% stake in the club, which was ratified two weeks later by the Premier League.[7] In January 2022, Moshiri increased his shares in the club to 94%.

Moshiri's now ex-wife, Nazenin Ansari, is an Iranian journalist who is based in London and was educated in the U.S. liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool…

Another director was Rem Vyakhirev (died Feb 2013), who was chairman of Gazprom from 1992 to 2001. Viakhirev had to resign as chairman during Putin's consolidation of economic power. His successor was Alexey Miller. …te.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/039228…

An earlier director of Usmanov's UK company, Europe Steel, (Feb 7, 2000 to March 15, 2001) was Babak Vahebzadeh (dob 1951). Iranian name more commonly spelled Vahabzadeh.