Dutch prosecutors have seized a plot of land close to Amsterdam that belongs to Vladimir Putin’s former son-in-law, a joint investigation by the Guardian and two different media organisations can reveal.
The plot of land in Duivendrecht is owned by Jorrit Faassen, a Dutch businessman who was married to Maria Vorontsova, the Russian president’s elder daughter.
An entry within the Dutch land registry reveals that the plot of land was seized on 12 Might by the nationwide public prosecutor’s workplace for monetary, financial and environmental offences. The company is accountable for imposing sanctions compliance.
Dutch cadastre paperwork present that the land plot was seized as a part of a felony investigation.
Based on Heleen over de Linden, a lawyer and sanctions skilled, the seizure signifies that Faassen is prone to be the goal of an investigation, though the precise cause for the seizure can’t be ascertained from the general public paperwork. Dutch prosecutors wouldn’t touch upon the explanation for the seizure or whether or not Faassen was beneath investigation.
The investigation was carried out by Follow the Money, the Guardian and Proekt Media, a Russian investigative web site.
Faassen, who lives in Moscow, was stated to have confronted questioning by authorities at Schiphol airport upon flying into the Netherlands lately, Proekt Media reported on Thursday, citing a supply who is aware of Faassen.
Based on the report, the individual stated that investigators questioned Faassen on suspicion of “sanctions evasion” and confiscated his laptop computer and cell phone. He shortly returned to Moscow, the individual stated.
Faassen didn’t reply cellphone calls or emailed questions from the Guardian concerning the land seizure or concerning the reported incident at Schipol airport.
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Each of Putin’s grownup daughters, Maria and Katerina, have been added to EU and US sanctions lists in April 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Faassen isn’t topic to any sanctions within the US, EU or UK.
Faassen married Vorontsova in 2008 however the pair are reported to have divorced. The couple have a 10-year-old son collectively, based on Russian media stories.
The US in March stated it was launching a brand new crackdown on nations and people concerned in sanctions-busting, a broad swath of actions that may vary from funnelling banned imports to Russia to facilitating the monetary pursuits of sanctioned Russians overseas.
Russia has used networks of transshipment factors and different workarounds to stave off financial isolation, whereas activists have complained that the households of sanctioned Russian officers proceed to dwell in Europe regardless of the conflict.
The land plot outdoors Amsterdam and its connection to Faassen is well-known to the general public. Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in 2022, protesters erected indicators on the land calling on Putin to “Free Navalny”, referring to the imprisoned opposition chief Alexei Navalny, and for Vorontsova to inform her father to cease the conflict in Ukraine.
In any other case, the 1432-sq-metre (0.35-acre) plot at Molenkade 28 in Duivendrecht, an space simply south-east of Amsterdam, is pretty unremarkable. Whereas the plot is at present empty, Faassen, the listed proprietor, utilized in 2021 for permission to construct a home and 6 small workplace buildings on the land.
In March 2022 the municipality halted the allow process on the grounds of Faassen’s “shut ties” with Putin.
