In September 2003, an apartment overlooking Monaco’s harbor was purchased for $4.1 million in the Mediterranean city-state known for its opulence.
However, the purchaser, Svetlana Krivonogikh, came from a modest background in Russia, with no discernible wealth that would have given her the ability to complete such a transaction.
Now, previously undisclosed financial documents, coupled with local tax filings, reveal that Krivonogikh became the owner of the extravagant apartment weeks after she had a daughter, during a time when she was reportedly having a clandestine relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The set of documents exposing Krivonogikh’s Monaco apartment were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), with The Washington Post reporting the information.
The documents, called the Pandora Papers, represent nearly 12 million financial records that detail the activities of 29,000 offshore accounts; the records also showed that Krivonogikh had ownership of a shell company in the British Virgin Islands and utilized a financial services firm in Monaco that also had a relationship with a billionaire friend of Putin.
The records do not indicate the source of the funding for the apartment, which is likely more than its $4.1 million value in 2003, according to the report.
But the Monaco transaction occurred during a time when Krivonogikh was reputedly in a relationship with Putin, according to Proekt, an independent Russian investigative outlet that has since been banned in the country.
While the Kremlin swatted away the report, the details from the Pandora Papers boost the assertion that Krivonogikh began to compile assets linked to associates of Putin after her alleged relationship with the Russian leader began.
Krivonogikh has not any made public comments about her alleged relationship with Putin or about the wealth that she has harnessed over the years.
The Kremlin has so far not made a comment to the ICIJ regarding the Pandora Papers.
Credit: Yahoo News