BERLIN, Dec. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Munich II Public Prosecutor’s Office has closed its probe into billionaire Alisher Usmanov over suspected violations of German foreign trade law. The case concerned alleged breaches of Article 18 of the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act in connection with EU sanction regulations.
The investigation was formally ended after Mr. Usmanov agreed to the termination and paid EUR 10 million, split between the state treasury and a number of charities.
The German authorities had previously suspected that Mr. Usmanov used foreign companies to pay around EUR 1.5 million for security services at two properties in Rottach-Egern and that certain valuables in Germany had not been declared within a time frame required for sanctioned persons. His defense rejected both the factual allegations and the legal interpretation of the sanction rules.
The case was closed for purposes of procedural economy. Now, with the payment made and the procedure completed, the investigation cannot be reopened on the same suspicions, and further prosecution on these points is ruled out. Mr. Usmanov remains presumed innocent and the payment is not considered a fine or punishment.
The law firm representing Mr. Usmanov, Wannemacher & Partner Rechtsanwälte, said: “In order to save on procedural costs, as well as to save personal time and health, our client agreed to its termination in accordance with the practice provided for by German law.”
Legal experts have repeatedly raised constitutional doubts about the obligation to report assets. The obligation to self-report violates a fundamental principle of the rule of law, as no one is required to assist in their own criminal prosecution. The basis for the prosecution of Mr. Usmanov was therefore unconstitutional from the outset.
Earlier, the Frankfurt am Main Public Prosecutor’s Office had terminated another investigation against Mr. Usmanov on suspicion of money laundering. That was also closed without any charges being brought, in November 2024.
In 2022, German authorities carried out several investigations into Mr. Usmanov that the Frankfurt Regional Court subsequently ruled unlawful. In November 2024, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office closed the case without establishing any crime, fully preserving Usmanov’s presumption of innocence and precluding any future reopening of such an investigation.
Between 2023 and 2025, dozens of European media outlets acknowledged they could not prove allegations against Usmanov, resulting in more than 1,250 publication corrections. His legal team secured 16 court orders and 102 cease-and-desist statements, including a landmark January 2024 ruling against Forbes regarding claims used to justify EU sanctions. Mr. Usmanov also won cases against major broadcasters and newspapers, such as ARD, RTL and Tagesspiegel.
In early 2025, outlets such as Münchner Merkur and NOZ deleted or amended more than 50 articles previously cited in EU sanction dossiers. A significant development occurred in February 2025 when the dpa news agency and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) retracted claims about the attribution of the yacht Dilbar to Mr. Usmanov. This led prominent publications, including Tagesschau, FAZ and Süddeutsche Zeitung, to remove the false reports from their websites.
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