Samvel Karapetyan's €120 Million Villa Ownership Freezed

The French court has frozen the ownership rights to the Irina Maria villa located on the Azure Coast, officially owned by Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan. The Paris prosecutor's office believes that the actual beneficiary is none other than the Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom's subsidiary.

According to French newspaper Le Monde, the villa, known locally as Villa del Mare, spans 3 hectares. The property includes a main building with multiple floors, three swimming pools, a tennis court, and a helipad. The total value of this property is estimated at €120 million.

The order for the freezing of ownership rights to the villa, as well as the shares of SNC Maritime Villa Holding, is dated February 12, 2024. The luxurious mansion consists of several multi-storey buildings, with three swimming pools, a tennis court, and a helipad nearby. The publication notes that this is the largest seizure of property related to Russian capital in France since the imposition of anti-Russian sanctions by the West.

As reported by the AFP news agency, the Paris prosecutor's office, specifically the unit dealing with organized crime (Junalco), is investigating money laundering in aggravated circumstances that has taken place since December 11, 2009, in Paris, Cyprus, Russia, and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin.