Staff Reporter
SPAIN has insisted it will embargo on real estate and other assets belonging to a blacklist of 893 Russian oligarchs with links to the Putin regime.
But so far only three superyachts have been impounded, and the government insists no homes are owned by the giant group of crooked businessmen.
Odd then, that the Olive Press published more details of a palace closely linked to Putin or, at the very least, one owned by one of his close cronies.
Described as a fortress with armed guards, we’ve been informing the world about the bloated extravagance of the Russian dictator and his shady development in Zagaleta since 2012.
It’s nearly impossible to prove who really owns it, given the web of shell companies and legal tricks the Russian oligarchs use to hide their wealth.
But it has all the hallmarks, right down to its name, the Rock of the King.
Dripping in as much gold as the besieged city of Mariupol is dripping in blood, this gross symbol of Russia’s ruling elite needs to be tackled urgently by the powers that be.
And let’s not forget Sergey Chemezov, a colleague of Putin’s in the KGB and owner of Russia’s largest state-owned defence group. He has at least two properties in Spain, according to El Pais. One is a mansion in Catalunya, while the other is a large rural property in Estepona, the resort, where the town hall fails to comment on anything.
The rapidly-growing enclave, which has hundreds, perhaps thousands of wealthy Russians living there, recently-built a gold-plated Russian orthodox church.
It’s also the seaside idyll, where the corrupt former head of Spain’s National Police, Jose Manual Villarejo, managed to acquire a suspiciously large number of properties.
All in all, it’s time to shine a torch on the shady dealings behind the gates of the upmarket estates in Estepona, Marbella and in Alicante’s Altea Hills, also famous for its super-rich Russians.
Chances are, Spain will find many other dictators and tyrants hiding their money here.
READ MORE:
- Spain seizes Russian oligarch superyachts in Barcelona and Mallorca
- CHATEAU PUTIN: Who owns the lavish villa in the hills above Marbella on Spain’s Costa del Sol?
- Spain joins calls for Russian president Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes over Ukraine invasion
