Law Firm Rechtsanwälte Steinhöfel: a German Newspaper Retracts Allegations Referenced in a Judicial Investigation Against Businessman Alisher Usmanov

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--German newspaper Münchner Merkur has retracted in writing a number of statements about Alisher Usmanov, signing three cease-and-desist orders and deleting 15 articles released March through November 2022. Some of the deleted materials were used by German law enforcement authorities to initiate preliminary investigations against A. Usmanov and constituted a ground for EU sanctions against him and his sister.

Münchner Merkur (Merkur) is a German daily newspaper, part of the Münchner Merkur/tz media group and the most read subscription-based publication in Bavaria. А. Usmanov has been repeatedly targeted by Merkur publications, especially after his inclusion in the EU sanctions lists in February 2022. Merkur has now simultaneously signed three cease-and-desist orders to stop unlawful acts, including dozens of false allegations about A. Usmanov and his relatives. Merkur had earlier signed yet another five of such orders.

These include claims that A. Usmanov allegedly owns luxury vehicles and real estate acquired “with the help of a network of sham and offshore companies,” which have allegedly been “seized” thereafter. Airbus A340 airplane, two helicopters and several cars were named among such assets, along with several villas on Bavarian Lake Tegernsee allegedly acquired by him from 2011 through 2018 through figureheads and sham companies for over EUR 23 mln, as well as real estate on Sardinia, a mansion in British Surrey, “villas in London,” Croatia and Latvia.

In addition, the deleted Merkur articles claimed that A. Usmanov allegedly transferred title to the above property to a trust in favor of his sisters, from whom he then leased it out. That being said, one of the sisters, Gulbakhor Ismailova was named as the owner of the Dilbar yacht. In addition, among Merkur’s false reports were allegations that in 2015 A. Usmanov allegedly acquired a multimillion-dollar property in Bavaria “from a professor at the University of Salzburg” and another one from “the man from Cologne” in 2016.

In the spirit of convoluted detective novels, the German outlet, citing rumors, published reports that A. Usmanov allegedly “transferred his trust to his sister G. Ismailova and that she, in turn, to her sister Saodat Narzieva,” and that “valuable artifacts such as alleged Fabergé eggs” had been discovered in Usmanov’s “properties in Bavaria.”

All these allegations have been repeatedly refuted in court and out of court. The Merkur outlet was the champion for the intensity of their dissemination in Germany, and later also became the champion for the number of their deletions and signed cease-and-desist orders. In reality, the said properties do not belong to A. Usmanov and are held in irrevocable discretionary trusts. Neither A. Usmanov nor his relatives has any control or ownership interest, with all rights vested in independent trustees.

The articles in Merkur were used by German law enforcement authorities to take on preliminary investigations, including for taking such serious investigative actions as searches against A. Usmanov on suspicion of tax evasion and violation of the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act. Investigative material, based among other things on deleted articles, was illegally transferred by the German side to the EU Council, which included it as “evidence” in the dossier on A. Usmanov and G. Ismailova to justify sanctions against them.

For the third year now, the German prosecutor’s office has been trying to prove to no avail that A. Usmanov was a tax resident of Germany, evaded the relevant taxes, and violated sanctions restrictions. A. Usmanov’s representatives have repeatedly denied these accusations. In November 2024, the Public Prosecutor General’s Office in Frankfurt am Main after almost two and a half years of barren searching efforts dropped yet another money laundering investigation against A. Usmanov without finding any evidence to support its accusations.. This was preceded by the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court’s recognition of the series of searches conducted as part of the investigation as illegal.

Since 2023, A. Usmanov’s lawyers have secured 9 orders and injunctions against media outlets which attributed to A. Usmanov real estate in Germany and other property actually owned by the independent trustees. Besides, about 40 cease-and-desist orders have been signed. Hundreds of media have deleted or edited their reports.

In 2022, the EU Council lifted sanctions on S. Narzieva, and in 2025 – on G. Ismailova.

Joachim Steinhöfel, a media lawyer representing A. Usmanov, noted that “it is highly unusual for an important regional newspaper to delete 15 of its articles for false factual claims after legal action. A journalist who has now completely discredited himself was so enamored of the Russian, rich and guilty narrative that truthful reporting could not be allowed to stand in the way. Alisher Usmanov was the victim of this attack on truth and decency. Journalistic failure is one thing, but the fact that the public prosecutor's office responsible made these grotesque media blunders the basis of its investigation and referred to the deleted newspaper articles discredits the justice system. For a judge to sign a search warrant, as happened in the Usmanov case, and refer to a newspaper article that has now been deleted, is simply ridiculous.”