Russian President Vladimir Putin could be the richest man in the world, even after the collapse of the ruble. A CNN report explained that there are so many shell companies that funnel his money into the west, it could be impossible to track it all down.
The Panama Papers revealed the wealth of the world is being hidden in off-shore accounts, in LLCs and real estate holdings. While the papers did track some of Putin's holdings, there is still so much that hasn't been tracked down, the CNN report revealed. Thus far, about $2 billion is known. But as CNN reported, he's worth about $100 billion.
"On the shore of the Black Sea, it can only be described as a palace," reported Drew Griffin. "190,000 square feet. You can see the church, tea house and amphitheater. And reportedly an underground hockey rink with a no-fly zone and no boat zone. This, according to an investigation last year, by the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's group. They said this palace fit for a king was built for Vladimir Putin."
"This palace is very much a symbol that he no longer sees himself as a government employee, elected figure. He sees himself as czar, king of some sort," said Maria Pevchikh, an investigator with the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
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CNN verified that it was Putin's palace, but the Russian government continues to refute it's his. The report noted that Putin claims he's worth about $800,000 and lives in nothing more than an 800 sq. ft. apartment. "It was paid for by the Russian oligarchs, by Russian state-owned companies, money from regular people, regular people that was stolen and diverted into building this horrendous thing on the Black Sea."
The money for the property came from an investment fund that asked for charity fund cash from the oligarchs. Their money is being tracked, in some cases by corruption investigators providing their services for free, the Daily Beast reported.
"The fact is financially getting to Putin may be impossible," said Griffin. "And even getting to his oligarchs through seizures and sanctions is tremendously difficult. They have created multiple levels of shell companies to hide their assets. Safely in western countries like the United States. One expert telling CNN, there is literally no paper trail."
See the report below:
putin's billions are hiddenyoutu.be
