The economic war waged in parallel with the invasion of Ukraine is taking a new turn with concrete actions against the Russian elites. This time, French justice struck a major blow with the seizure of more than 70 million euros of property belonging to Russian businessmen.
Seizure of Russian property in France
After months of investigation, French justice announced that it had seized more than 70 million euros of property held by two Russian businessmen, Ruslan Goryukhin and Mikhail Opengeym. These legal actions complement the economic sanctions already taken against Russia. According to a source close to the matter, this seizure was carried out as part of an investigation into “aggravated money laundering”. Among the frozen assets are luxury properties located in the Alpes-Maritimes and Var, including a 22.5 hectare estate in Grasse and villas in Saint-Raphaël and Grimaud. The national jurisdiction for the fight against organized crime (Junalco) supervised this investigation, launched in March 2024, which made it possible to identify several properties and two luxury vehicles, for respective values of 69.8 million euros and 670 000 euros.
Indeed, the two men are accused of having used complex financial arrangements to hide the dubious origin of their funds. Goryukhin and Opengeym, both holders of Cypriot passports, allegedly used offshore companies to finance the acquisition of these properties through interest-free loans. These loans, provided by companies they themselves controlled, allowed them to be both creditors and beneficiaries, making the transactions difficult for authorities to track. The investigation also highlights the involvement of legal professionals, in particular a notary based in Grasse, who would have validated these financial arrangements.
The investigation and its international ramifications
In addition to the seized properties, the French investigation is closely interested in the links between these businessmen and financial intermediaries based in Monaco. The searches revealed that these intermediaries, in particular the company Rosemont Consulting, specializing in tax engineering, would have played a central role in the creation of the legal structures used for suspicious transactions. Thus, “The amount of Russian assets frozen in France amounts to 1.2 billion euros”, according to Guillaume Valette-Valla, director of Tracfin.
The seizure of Goryukhin and Opengeym's assets is part of a coordinated international strategy to freeze the assets of those close to the Kremlin in response to the invasion of Ukraine. In France, these measures have intensified in recent months, but they remain insufficient given the complexity of offshore arrangements. Cooperation between European authorities will be essential to penetrate these opaque financial networks and guarantee the effectiveness of sanctions. In addition, reinforced surveillance of global financial flows and the legal professions involved in these transactions could well become a major focus of future legal actions.
This case is only one piece of the vast puzzle of economic sanctions against Russia, but it illustrates the difficulty of tracking down and seizing property acquired through sophisticated financial arrangements. While the French justice system is stepping up its efforts, international pressure for greater financial transparency is intensifying. The next steps in this investigation, and those to come, could well redefine the tools for fighting transnational financial crime. Thus, the implications for Russian oligarchs and their networks in Europe are immense, and these types of actions could inspire other jurisdictions to act. Such seizures may revive Russian businessmen's interest in crypto investments, particularly Bitcoin.
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