The property manager of the Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky who died in 2013, the auditing company Grant Thornton, said in the court of appeal in Aix-en-Provence that the confiscation imposed on the former estate of the businessman Château de la Garoupe on Cape Antibes (French Cote d'Azur) should be lifted. Bloomberg.
The estate, located in the so-called Billionaires' Bay, was confiscated by the French authorities back in 2015 as part of a theft and money laundering case. The French court then concluded that the estate was acquired by Berezovsky using illegally obtained income.
Now the lawyer Stefan Bonifassi, who represents the interests of the managers in court, said that the complete confiscation of the estate should be canceled. Although the acquisition of the estate was financed with misappropriated money in the amount of $ 5 million, this corresponds to only half of the property's value at the time of its acquisition and only 5% of its value at the time of arrest, according to Bonifassi's written explanations submitted to the court. “It would be fair if this significant asset were directed to compensate creditors who suffered from fraudulent actions by Boris Berezovsky,” the lawyer said.
The French prosecutor's office and the agency that manages the confiscated assets oppose the revocation of the confiscation. The decision on the case is scheduled for April 21.
According to managers, the total debt of Boris Berezovsky at the time of his death was £ 296 million ($ 406 million). Among the creditors of the deceased businessman is Aeroflot, in which Berezovsky owned a large share in the 1990s, Roman Abramovich (his claims, Bloomberg points out, are less than $ 1 million). Baltic International Bank's claims amount to £ 66 million. Among the creditors are also the former common-law wife of the businessman Elena Gorbunova and the UK tax service.
RBC sent inquiries to representatives of Aeroflot and Abramovich.
The ownership of the Château de la Garoupe covers an area of about 100 hectares, it houses a property with an area of about 1.5 thousand square meters. m.According to an expert assessment cited by Bloomberg, the estate is worth at least € 100 million.
Berezovsky died on March 23, 2013 at his ex-wife's mansion outside London. The coroner concluded that there was not enough evidence to make an unequivocal verdict on the cause of the businessman's death. In Russia in the 1990s, Berezovsky owned large stakes in Rusal and ORT, but was forced to sell his assets and leave for London amid a conflict with the authorities. In Great Britain, he received political asylum. In Russia, 13 criminal cases were opened against Berezovsky at the time of his death. After the death of the businessman, the Federal Bailiff Service announced that it was planning to recover more than 3 billion rubles from him.
After the death of Berezovsky, none of the potential heirs declared their rights. In this regard, the High Court of London has appointed Grant Thornton, an auditing company, as the manager of Berezovsky's property.
