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Cyprus contentious dealings with Russian money came to the fore again on Tuesday after an OCCRP investigation cited a US official describing the island as a “little black box” for Russians that viewed Cyprus as a secrecy jurisdiction.
It described Cypriot company Wayblue Investments Limited, listed as the owner of an Austrian chalet believed to have hosted Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his family.
The OCCRP’s investigation was published as a result of 50,000 leaked emails, which describe a worldwide chess-like enterprise, incorporating investment schemes, bank accounts, and a sophisticated network aimed at helping two of Putin’s childhood friends evade sanctions.
These are Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, who grew up with Russia’s president in Leningrad and took martial arts classes together.
In the report, former US Treasury officer Irene Kenyon described Cyprus as “another British Virgin Islands” for the Russians and “their little black box… where they can register stuff and hide assets. … It was considered a secrecy jurisdiction.”
The leak came from an unnamed Russian management firm that worked for the brothers.
According to the investigation, dubbed the Rotenberg Files, 50-year-old Russian-born businessman Maxim Viktorov was a sanctions enabler, coordinating the global affairs of the two brothers after they were hit with western sanctions in 2014.
None of the circumstances depicting Cyprus in the investigation specify any crimes committed on the part of the Cypriot entities and service providers.
Two Cyprus-based legal experts are described as “players” in OCCRP’s report. These are legal firm Law-Lab, (I. Christodoulou & Partners LLC) and ILS Legal Services.
The former, run by lawyers Irene Christodoulou and Andri Tsangarou, were hired by Viktorov, according to a draft agreement seen in the email leak.
The emails show Law Lab offered advice for matters related to the Rotenbergs, and when in 2018 Maltese authorities began asking questions about the ownership of Boris Rotenberg’s investment fund, “Christodoulou advised that a company owned by the investment fund be relocated to Cyprus in order to avoid scrutiny.”
Additionally, ILS is described as providing Viktorov with a host of services, including advice on Rotenberg companies that were based in Malta and the British Virgin Islands. The OCCRP describes ILS as a “low-profile firm that appears to be made up of at least three entities registered in Cyprus, Russia and Panama.”
The investigation notes that when the British Virgin Islands began applying pressure on service providers to put a stop to companies owned by US-sanctioned individuals, eight of the 18 companies mentioned in an email exchange were ultimately dissolved, and two relocated to Cyprus.
Viktorov denied violating any laws or EU and US sanctions legislation.
Where the chalet in Austria’s ski town of Kitzbühel is concerned, the OCCRP cites documents revealing Cypriot company Wayblue Investments Limited purchased the property for €10.8 million in January 2013.
The funds which were used were invested by a separate company in Cyprus called Gietrin Investments Limited, also owned by Rotenberg, OCCRP reported.
Wayblue’s background however appears to be a mystery, the investigation highlights.
“No beneficial owner is named in the leak, and Cypriot registry documents since 2015 list a company called Velidom Ltd. as its only shareholder. It’s not clear who is behind Velidom either.”
A company registrar search lists Markos Piperides as the secretary and director of the firm.
Some months after the Austrian property purchase, another Cypriot company, called Gietrin Investments Limited set up a Dutch company called Molenkade Ontwikkeling B.V. and purchased a plot of land outside of Amsterdam.
Financial documents for Wayblue, obtained by OCCRP from Cyprus, reportedly show that Gietrin loaned Wayblue €750,000 and was referred to as a “related company.”
“Like Wayblue, Gietrin’s real owners are a mystery,” the investigation revealed.
Cyprus has spent the last few months being on damage control mode, after it was hit by US and UK sanctions. Dozens of Cypriot individuals and companies were deemed “financial fixers” for Russian oligarchs Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov and “knowingly assisting” them to hide their assets in complex financial networks.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Mail
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Mail
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