Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman detained on money-laundering suspicions: Report

Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman was detained in London on money-laundering suspicions, Russian state news company TASS reported after the U.K.’s National Crime Agency stated a “wealthy Russian businessman” had been arrested.

The crime company said the businessman, whom it did not establish, was arrested on Thursday at his London dwelling on suspicion of cash laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office, and conspiracy to commit perjury, based on a press release launched Saturday. The man was later launched on bail, it stated.

Fridman, a principal behind Alfa Group, certainly one of Russia’s largest privately owned funding teams, is on the EU sanctions listing over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The EU called Fridman, 58, “a top Russian financier and enabler of Putin’s inner circle” when it positioned him on the sanctions listing in late February.

In its assertion on Saturday, the U.K. crime company stated a 58-year-old man was amongst three males detained by officers from the Combating Kleptocracy Cell on Thursday at a “multimillion-pound residence” in London. All three males had been launched on bail, the company stated.

Alfa Group issued a press release on Saturday stating Fridman was not below arrest; however the assertion didn’t handle whether or not Fridman had been launched on bail, based on a report by Radio Free Europe.