The Financial Times learned about the termination of part of the investigation against Mikhail Fridman in the UK. We are talking about deception of the British Ministry of Internal Affairs and conspiracy to give false testimony. Nevertheless, suspicions of money laundering still remain in force, the interlocutors of the newspaper said.
In early December, Britain’s National Crime Agency reported that a 58-year-old Russian businessman had been detained in London on suspicion of three crimes. Friedman’s name was not mentioned then. Sources of RBC and TASS said that the businessman was eventually released on bail of 150 thousand pounds. Alfa-Bank denied that Fridman had anything to do with this story.
Vladimir Gladyshev, Managing Partner at Gladyshev & Partners Law Office in London, commented on the news about the dismissal of some of the charges:
“These things are used when really serious charges cannot be brought. And Friedman is now facing serious charges – this is money laundering. Money laundering in itself cannot be charged without a so-called predicate offence. That is, the laundered money must be obtained by criminal means, it does not matter if you or someone else. It is possible that Friedman did not commit the crime himself, but laundered money, that is, his business exists on money obtained by criminal means. The most interesting thing is that this is a predicate crime. But according to some statements, for example, in the USA, he was accused of having links with a Russian criminal group, that he was doing business with the money of this group. England is not a completely sovereign and independent country, so until the Americans drop this Friedman accusation, the British will not drop their money laundering charge either. The accusations are bogus. A conspiracy to deceive the Ministry of Internal Affairs – anything can be summed up under this. And collusion means that there were several people there. In the UK, there are a huge number of topics that are discussed in a much higher priority order than Friedman.
In early March, it became known that Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven were selling their shares in Alfa-Bank. The value of the asset was estimated at more than $2 billion. A few days before that, a collective letter appeared, addressed to the European Commission, with a request to lift the sanctions against Mikhail Fridman. It was signed mainly by Russian oppositionists.