For a long time, opaque financial arrangements using tax havens were a nightmare for the French justice system and investigative agencies. However, since 2014, this complexity has tended to backfire on its perpetrators. A new presumption of money laundering has reversed the burden of proof, requiring the beneficiaries of these acrobatic schemes to prove the legitimate source of the money. Failure to do so could lead to prosecution for money laundering.
The September seizure of luxury villas on the French Riviera, belonging to two Russian businessmen, is a perfect illustration of this. The seizure came as part of a preliminary investigation launched in March by gendarmes from the Paris Research Section into "alleged acts of aggravated money laundering." The investigation was based on the discovery of real estate assets financed by companies based in tax havens. The Paris prosecutor's office stated, without disclosing the identity of the individuals involved, that "the procedure concerns the acquisition of real estate through loans granted by private companies domiciled in Cyprus or the British Virgin Islands."
In the middle of the summer, gendarmes carried out a week-long series of initial operations, accompanied by two financial magistrates from the Paris prosecutor's office's unit against organized crime (Junalco). According to a judicial source, searches were carried out "both in notary offices and at the homes of suspects" on the French and Monegasque sides of the Riviera.
Cypriot passports
As a result of these operations, Junalco's financial section requested and secured the seizure of a 22.5-hectare estate in the city of Grasse and the towns of Saint-Raphaël and Grimaud, as well as luxury cars. According to Le Monde, these assets belong to Ruslan Goryukhin and Mikhail Opengeym, two businessmen of Russian origin who hold Cypriot passports.
Goryukhin has long been involved in the Russian energy sector, leading companies that have benefited from the success of Russian gas giant Gazprom. More specifically, he headed SGM, a company owned by Arkady Rotenberg, a Russian oligarch who is a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The businessman's lawyer, Christian Roth, stated that his client "will not (...) make any statement or provide any information to confirm or deny" Le Monde's information, adding that Goryukhin "reserves his statements" for the courts.
Mikhail Opengeym's public CV is less extensive. Documents from the Pandora Papers database, reviewed by Le Monde, describe him as a "businessman" who invests in gas drilling and transport companies. His lawyer, François Artuphel, told Le Monde that "Mr. Opengeym is not a party to the criminal proceedings [referred to], which are moreover covered by the secrecy of the investigation." He added: "Consequently, he does not intend to comment."
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