A Russian billionaire on the European Union's sanctions list, a lawyer who secured 900 million euros in damages from Deutsche Bank in the Leo Kirch case ten years ago, and UBS's German subsidiary: The newly revealed legal case involving UBS has all the elements of a riveting judicial saga.
Russian oligarch Alisher Burkhanovich Usmanov has filed a lawsuit for damages against UBS Europe SE in Frankfurt am Main, as announced on Monday.
Usmanov is a Russian billionaire who has amassed an estimated fortune of 13 billion euros ($14 billion) from metal and telecom companies. Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he was placed on the EU sanctions list due to his «particularly close ties» with President Vladimir Putin and the «active support of the destabilization policy» of the Russian government in Ukraine.
House in Tegernsee
Prior to the sanctioning, high-profile investigations against Usmanov in Germany were conducted on suspicion of money laundering. He owns or owned a house in Tegernsee and a bank account at the German subsidiary of UBS.
The law firm Gauweiler & Sauter in Munich announced that they have filed a lawsuit for damages against UBS Europe SE on behalf of Usmanov.
CSU Veteran and Euro Cirtic
The case is being led by Peter Gauweiler and Stefanie Rabenau from Gauweiler & Sauter. Peter Gauweiler is a well-known Bavarian figure who served as a CSU member of the German Bundestag from 2002 to 2015. Previously, he held the position of State Minister in the Bavarian state governments of Franz Josef Strauss and Max Streibl.
Twelve years ago, on behalf of media entrepreneur Leo Kirch and his heirs, Gauweiler won 900 million euros in damages from Deutsche Bank. According to the courts, unguarded public statements by former Deutsche Bank CEO Rolf Breuer about Kirch's creditworthiness contributed to the collapse of his media empire.
Gauweiler also made a name for himself as a regular plaintiff against the European Central Bank's euro rescue measures.
Spicious Unlawful Activity?
According to a press release, Usmanov has accused UBS in Germany of making a total of more than twelve «unlawful reports» to the money laundering authority «Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the General Customs Directorate» regarding «allegedly suspicious transactions» between 2015 and 2018, which «led to criminal investigations against him.»
As a result, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office «initiated an investigation against Mr. Usmanov on suspicion of money laundering,» publicly exposing him with a series of spectacular searches, which «also contributed to Mr. Usmanov's sanctioning.»
On 13 May 2023, the Frankfurt Regional Court found the «unlawfulness of the investigation measures in their entirety,» the press release continues.
