Gazprom, the Russian gas giant run by people close to Vladimir Putin which has escaped European sanctions, is caught up in the French justice system. A specialized jurisdiction of the Paris prosecutor's office known as JIRS is looking into a villa on the French Riviera. Located in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, near Monaco, it was once a pied-à-terre for the Zairean dictator Sese Seko Mobutu and his family. Its three swimming pools, tennis court and heliport make it one of the most luxurious villas on the Côte d'Azur.
Le Monde has learned that judicial proceedings involving suspicions of "aggravated money laundering" have been opened and entrusted to the Financial Judicial Investigation Department (SEJF) of France's Finance and Economy Ministry. "There is evidence to suggest that the successive acquisition schemes for the villa were carried out in the name of various companies, whose indirect ownership would make Gazprom the beneficial owner," the prosecutor's office told Le Monde. It was suspicions about the real identity of the property's owner that triggered the judicial investigation.
The gas giant, which accounted for 8% of Russia's GDP before the war in Ukraine, is one of the biggest contributors to the Russian state budget. Part of its revenue is also used to finance a private militia engaged on the Ukrainian front, according to documents revealed by Kyiv in February. The state-owned company is run by people close to Vladimir Putin: both its CEO Alexei Miller and Viktor Zubkov, the chairman of the supervisory board, worked alongside him when the future president was working at the Saint Petersburg mayor's office.
Since autumn 2016, the official owner of the Roquebrune-Cap-Martin villa has been a wealthy Russian-Armenian businessman, Samvel Karapetyan. But numerous elements gathered by Le Monde from official records and data leaked from the Cyprus Confidential investigation show that Gazprom still maintains multiple links with this villa today, despite its official withdrawal in 2016. Le Monde can reveal that the villa has been pledged to Gazprombank and an offshore company linked to a Gazprom executive. If the judicial investigation establishes that the numerous arrangements surrounding the property have served to conceal the identity of the true owner of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, the courts could seize the property and confiscate it permanently in the event of a conviction.
"As soon as Gazprombank is involved in luxury real estate transactions somewhere in the European Union (EU), it's an alert that should trigger a proper investigation by EU authorities," said Ilia Shumanov, director of the NGO Transparency International-Russia. The property in question, estimated to be worth over €200 million, is one of the most expensive on the Côte d'Azur. It comprises a 1,225 m² main villa, long known as Villa del Mare, and extends over an estate of more than three hectares, with a guest house and a third building to house the household staff. Much more than a luxury property, it lies at the heart of complex financial arrangements between Gazprom and those close to Putin. When contacted by Le Monde, neither the oligarchs in question nor the company responded to our questions.
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