A regional court in Germany has declared search warrants used last year to raid the superyacht Dilbar to be invalid. The 512-footer (156-meter) remains a sanctioned asset, however.
The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported the ruling last week, indicating the court made its decision May 12. Reuters received confirmation from the court that it was handling the case, but no details on the decision. We reached out to the court for a statement but did not receive one by press time, however.
The raid, which took place last September, occurred while Dilbar sat “impounded” at the Lürssen shipyard. Officers from the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), Germany’s federal investigative police unit, boarded her. The BKA and the European Union had determined that Gulbakhor Ismailova., the sister of Alisher Usmanov, was the owner. Usmanov, a national of Uzbekistan, holds significant interests in metals, mining, and telecommunications, plus allegedly is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The EU says Usmanov transferred ownership of the yacht and other assets to his sister, while the United States says he owns the yacht. (The superyacht Dilbar gets her name from that of Usmanov’s mother, Dilbar Usmanova.) Ismailova and Usmanov are both on the EU sanctions list due to the invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Usmanov and Dilbar are both on the United States sanctions list.
Usmanov has denied having a close relationship with Putin and to being the owner of the superyacht Dilbar. Instead, he has said he previously chartered the yacht.
According to Der Spiegel, the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office obtained the September search warrants on the grounds of money laundering. The regional court in Frankfurt, Germany ruled that prosecutors failed to back up the claims, though, with specific enough evidence. In fact, the newspaper reports, the court pointed to the claims largely relying on a YouTube video by Alexei Navalny, a Russian opposition leader and corruption activist.
Although Reuters could not confirm the ruling with the court, it did receive a statement from Usmanov’s lawyers. They say the grounds for accusing him of money laundering were “unlawful.” Specifically, evidence “does not exist, has never existed.” They add that the court’s ruling “reaffirmed our client’s trust in Germany as a functioning constitutional state.” Furthermore, the lawyers say, the ruling “should offer food for thought…to everyone who contributed to creating a prejudiced view towards our client throughout Germany.”
On a related note, the initial BKA press release about the searches of the superyacht Dilbar is no longer on the agency website.
Since the court ruling doesn’t change the yacht being impounded, she remains in a Lürssen drydock. Lürssen delivered Dilbar in 2016.
Leave a Reply