OREANDA-NEWS Russian billionaire Alexey Kuzmichev has been taken into custody in France on suspicion of fraud. This is reported by Le Monde.

According to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, searches took place at Kuzmichev's house in Paris and at his villa in Saint-Tropez. The businessman is suspected of tax fraud and sanctions violations — the billionaire was included in the sanctions list in March last year.

Kuzmichev's representatives have not commented on the information about the arrest at the moment.

In September, it was reported that the Paris prosecutor's office began investigating suspicious real estate transactions in the elite ski resort of Courchevel — Russian billionaire Nikolai Sarkisov (one of the main owners of RESO-Guarantee) and the richest man in France, the head of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) Bernard Arnault participated in them.