Vladimir Putin has been accused by western governments of amassing a vast secret fortune through a network of oligarchs and friends. However, there is little evidence on paper that links Putin to the assets – or the friendly benefactors to each other.
One possible connection has now emerged. An investigation by the the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the news website Meduza has identified a group of 86 apparently unconnected companies or not for profit organisations that appear to hold over $4.5bn (£3.7bn) of assets where a common private email address, LLCInvest.ru, appears to be in use.
The assets which appear to be held by the organisations include a range of luxury homes, yachts and vineyards previously linked in media reports to Russia’s president. The telecoms company hosting the domain name on its servers is closely linked to Bank Rossiya, described by the US Treasury as “the personal bank for senior officials of the Russian Federation”.
