Latest news with #Usmanov
Business Wire
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Alisher Usmanov Wins Legal Case Against Luxembourg's Largest Media Group, Says Law Firm Rechtsanwälte Steinhöfel
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A German court has banned Mediahuis Luxembourg S.A., the most important media holding in Luxembourg, from referring to Alisher Usmanov as the owner of the yacht Dilbar. Mediahuis Luxembourg is the leading publishing company in Luxembourg, with such assets as newspapers and online platforms, including Luxemburger Wort, Luxembourg Times and others. On May 5, 2025, the Regional Court of Hamburg ruled that the following statement published by Luxembourg Times was false and prohibited its further publication: 'The luxury yacht Dilbar was seized in Hamburg's harbour in 2022 following Russia's invasion under EU sanctions. The yacht is owned through a company and trust by Uzbek-Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.' The court found the statement to be in violation of Mr. Usmanov's rights and prohibited its distribution. In the event of non-compliance with the prohibition, Mediahuis may be fined up to €250,000 for each individual offense. Moreover, if such a fine is not enforceable, it may be replaced with an administrative detention of up to six months per offense, with a maximum of two years in total. The disputed paragraph from the article has been removed from the Luxembourg Times website. Since 2023, Mr. Usmanov's legal counsels have obtained 10 court rulings and injunctions against media outlets that were attributing property in the Federal Republic of Germany and other various assets in the country to Mr. Usmanov. In reality, these properties and assets are held in irrevocable trusts and belong to their managers – independent trustees. In addition, some 40 cease-and-desist letters have been served, resulting in hundreds of media outlets withdrawing or correcting their articles. Joachim Steinhöfel, a lawyer specializing in press law and representing Mr. Usmanov, said: 'Media outlets have persistently and unlawfully alleged that Mr. Usmanov uses family members, shell companies, or trusts to conceal ownership of some assets — claims that are demonstrably false. Long before the ruling on Luxembourg Times, we obtained multiple court injunctions and cease-and-desist declarations prohibiting such defamatory assertions or promises to cease and desist, which were secured by contractual penalties. Despite their legal invalidity and subsequent removal or correction, such articles have nonetheless been cited in investigative files and EU sanctions documents targeting our client. The fact that prosecutorial authorities and EU sanctioning bodies rely on discredited and judicially banned media content raises serious concerns of procedural impropriety. It constitutes a clear abuse of discretion and a potential violation of due process rights. Decisions derived from such flawed sources lack both legal and moral legitimacy.' On the defamation cases brought by Alisher Usmanov and Gulbakhor Ismailova Between 2023 and 2025, a number of European, mainly German, media outlets and public figures acknowledged their inability to prove their allegations against Alisher Usmanov and his sister, Gulbakhor Ismailova, and subsequently undertook in writing to cease their illegal distribution. One of the most noteworthy is the ruling in January 2024 prohibiting several claims made by the U.S. magazine Forbes against Mr. Usmanov that were used to justify the imposition of the EU sanctions on him. Usmanov has also won legal battles against many other outlets, including the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, Austria's Kurier, and major German television and radio channels RTL and ARD/Westdeutscher Rundfunk. In April 2025, the German newspaper Münchner Merkur took down 15 articles on Alisher Usmanov and Gulbakhor Ismailova at once. Some of these articles had been used to trigger investigations into Mr. Usmanov in Germany, and their content was later included in the EU's sanctions dossiers against both Mr. Usmanov and Ms. Ismailova. In February 2025, Germany's leading news agency, dpa, informed its partners in the FRG and international media partners of the retraction of its April 13, 2022, article claiming that Ms. Ismailova was presumably the owner of the yacht Dilbar, citing the retraction by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) of its April 2022 statement on the X platform (formerly Twitter). (The BKA deleted the original post after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Mr. Usmanov's legal counsel and confirmed that it would no longer propagate it.) Dpa also advised them to withdraw the publication 'to avoid any legal dispute.' The article in question disappeared from the websites of numerous media, such Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Zeit, Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung and others. In March 2025, Tagesschau, Germany's longest-running and most-watched television news program, was also forced to remove similar content from its website.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alisher Usmanov Wins Legal Case Against Luxembourg's Largest Media Group, Says Law Firm Rechtsanwälte Steinhöfel
PARIS, May 12, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A German court has banned Mediahuis Luxembourg S.A., the most important media holding in Luxembourg, from referring to Alisher Usmanov as the owner of the yacht Dilbar. Mediahuis Luxembourg is the leading publishing company in Luxembourg, with such assets as newspapers and online platforms, including Luxemburger Wort, Luxembourg Times and others. On May 5, 2025, the Regional Court of Hamburg ruled that the following statement published by Luxembourg Times was false and prohibited its further publication: "The luxury yacht Dilbar was seized in Hamburg's harbour in 2022 following Russia's invasion under EU sanctions. The yacht is owned through a company and trust by Uzbek-Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov." The court found the statement to be in violation of Mr. Usmanov's rights and prohibited its distribution. In the event of non-compliance with the prohibition, Mediahuis may be fined up to €250,000 for each individual offense. Moreover, if such a fine is not enforceable, it may be replaced with an administrative detention of up to six months per offense, with a maximum of two years in total. The disputed paragraph from the article has been removed from the Luxembourg Times website. Since 2023, Mr. Usmanov's legal counsels have obtained 10 court rulings and injunctions against media outlets that were attributing property in the Federal Republic of Germany and other various assets in the country to Mr. Usmanov. In reality, these properties and assets are held in irrevocable trusts and belong to their managers – independent trustees. In addition, some 40 cease-and-desist letters have been served, resulting in hundreds of media outlets withdrawing or correcting their articles. Joachim Steinhöfel, a lawyer specializing in press law and representing Mr. Usmanov, said: "Media outlets have persistently and unlawfully alleged that Mr. Usmanov uses family members, shell companies, or trusts to conceal ownership of some assets — claims that are demonstrably false. Long before the ruling on Luxembourg Times, we obtained multiple court injunctions and cease-and-desist declarations prohibiting such defamatory assertions or promises to cease and desist, which were secured by contractual penalties. Despite their legal invalidity and subsequent removal or correction, such articles have nonetheless been cited in investigative files and EU sanctions documents targeting our client. The fact that prosecutorial authorities and EU sanctioning bodies rely on discredited and judicially banned media content raises serious concerns of procedural impropriety. It constitutes a clear abuse of discretion and a potential violation of due process rights. Decisions derived from such flawed sources lack both legal and moral legitimacy." On the defamation cases brought by Alisher Usmanov and Gulbakhor Ismailova Between 2023 and 2025, a number of European, mainly German, media outlets and public figures acknowledged their inability to prove their allegations against Alisher Usmanov and his sister, Gulbakhor Ismailova, and subsequently undertook in writing to cease their illegal distribution. One of the most noteworthy is the ruling in January 2024 prohibiting several claims made by the U.S. magazine Forbes against Mr. Usmanov that were used to justify the imposition of the EU sanctions on him. Usmanov has also won legal battles against many other outlets, including the German newspaper Tagesspiegel, Austria's Kurier, and major German television and radio channels RTL and ARD/Westdeutscher Rundfunk. In April 2025, the German newspaper Münchner Merkur took down 15 articles on Alisher Usmanov and Gulbakhor Ismailova at once. Some of these articles had been used to trigger investigations into Mr. Usmanov in Germany, and their content was later included in the EU's sanctions dossiers against both Mr. Usmanov and Ms. Ismailova. In February 2025, Germany's leading news agency, dpa, informed its partners in the FRG and international media partners of the retraction of its April 13, 2022, article claiming that Ms. Ismailova was presumably the owner of the yacht Dilbar, citing the retraction by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) of its April 2022 statement on the X platform (formerly Twitter). (The BKA deleted the original post after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Mr. Usmanov's legal counsel and confirmed that it would no longer propagate it.) Dpa also advised them to withdraw the publication "to avoid any legal dispute." The article in question disappeared from the websites of numerous media, such Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Zeit, Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung and others. In March 2025, Tagesschau, Germany's longest-running and most-watched television news program, was also forced to remove similar content from its website. View source version on Contacts Alisher Usmanov's Press Service pressoffice@ Joachim Nikolaus Steinhöfel, attorney ABC-Str. 38, 20354 Hamburg mail@ – Tel.: +49 40 444599 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
25-04-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Law Firm Rechtsanwälte Steinhöfel: a German Newspaper Retracts Allegations Referenced in a Judicial Investigation Against Businessman Alisher Usmanov
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--German newspaper Münchner Merkur has retracted in writing a number of statements about Alisher Usmanov, signing three cease-and-desist orders and deleting 15 articles released March through November 2022. Some of the deleted materials were used by German law enforcement authorities to initiate preliminary investigations against A. Usmanov and constituted a ground for EU sanctions against him and his sister. Münchner Merkur (Merkur) is a German daily newspaper, part of the Münchner Merkur/tz media group and the most read subscription-based publication in Bavaria. А. Usmanov has been repeatedly targeted by Merkur publications, especially after his inclusion in the EU sanctions lists in February 2022. Merkur has now simultaneously signed three cease-and-desist orders to stop unlawful acts, including dozens of false allegations about A. Usmanov and his relatives. Merkur had earlier signed yet another five of such orders. These include claims that A. Usmanov allegedly owns luxury vehicles and real estate acquired 'with the help of a network of sham and offshore companies,' which have allegedly been 'seized' thereafter. Airbus A340 airplane, two helicopters and several cars were named among such assets, along with several villas on Bavarian Lake Tegernsee allegedly acquired by him from 2011 through 2018 through figureheads and sham companies for over EUR 23 mln, as well as real estate on Sardinia, a mansion in British Surrey, 'villas in London,' Croatia and Latvia. In addition, the deleted Merkur articles claimed that A. Usmanov allegedly transferred title to the above property to a trust in favor of his sisters, from whom he then leased it out. That being said, one of the sisters, Gulbakhor Ismailova was named as the owner of the Dilbar yacht. In addition, among Merkur's false reports were allegations that in 2015 A. Usmanov allegedly acquired a multimillion-dollar property in Bavaria 'from a professor at the University of Salzburg' and another one from 'the man from Cologne' in 2016. In the spirit of convoluted detective novels, the German outlet, citing rumors, published reports that A. Usmanov allegedly 'transferred his trust to his sister G. Ismailova and that she, in turn, to her sister Saodat Narzieva,' and that 'valuable artifacts such as alleged Fabergé eggs' had been discovered in Usmanov's 'properties in Bavaria.' All these allegations have been repeatedly refuted in court and out of court. The Merkur outlet was the champion for the intensity of their dissemination in Germany, and later also became the champion for the number of their deletions and signed cease-and-desist orders. In reality, the said properties do not belong to A. Usmanov and are held in irrevocable discretionary trusts. Neither A. Usmanov nor his relatives has any control or ownership interest, with all rights vested in independent trustees. The articles in Merkur were used by German law enforcement authorities to take on preliminary investigations, including for taking such serious investigative actions as searches against A. Usmanov on suspicion of tax evasion and violation of the German Foreign Trade and Payments Act. Investigative material, based among other things on deleted articles, was illegally transferred by the German side to the EU Council, which included it as 'evidence' in the dossier on A. Usmanov and G. Ismailova to justify sanctions against them. For the third year now, the German prosecutor's office has been trying to prove to no avail that A. Usmanov was a tax resident of Germany, evaded the relevant taxes, and violated sanctions restrictions. A. Usmanov's representatives have repeatedly denied these accusations. In November 2024, the Public Prosecutor General's Office in Frankfurt am Main after almost two and a half years of barren searching efforts dropped yet another money laundering investigation against A. Usmanov without finding any evidence to support its accusations.. This was preceded by the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court's recognition of the series of searches conducted as part of the investigation as illegal. Since 2023, A. Usmanov's lawyers have secured 9 orders and injunctions against media outlets which attributed to A. Usmanov real estate in Germany and other property actually owned by the independent trustees. Besides, about 40 cease-and-desist orders have been signed. Hundreds of media have deleted or edited their reports. In 2022, the EU Council lifted sanctions on S. Narzieva, and in 2025 – on G. Ismailova. Joachim Steinhöfel, a media lawyer representing A. Usmanov, noted that 'it is highly unusual for an important regional newspaper to delete 15 of its articles for false factual claims after legal action. A journalist who has now completely discredited himself was so enamored of the Russian, rich and guilty narrative that truthful reporting could not be allowed to stand in the way. Alisher Usmanov was the victim of this attack on truth and decency. Journalistic failure is one thing, but the fact that the public prosecutor's office responsible made these grotesque media blunders the basis of its investigation and referred to the deleted newspaper articles discredits the justice system. For a judge to sign a search warrant, as happened in the Usmanov case, and refer to a newspaper article that has now been deleted, is simply ridiculous.'
Russia Today
09-02-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Russian tycoon scores victory in legal battle against Western media
Russian metals and telecoms tycoon Alisher Usmanov has won another lawsuit in his sizable legal wrangle with Western media outlets. A regional court in Germany has banned a local news daily from disseminating 'false' statements about the billionaire, RBK reported on Sunday, citing Usmanov's press office. The Berlin-based publication Tagesspiegel, controlled by the German publisher DvH Medien, has been barred from spreading a series of false and defamatory claims about the Uzbek-born businessman. The ruling, a copy of which was obtained by the outlet, was made by the Hamburg Regional Court on February 3. Failing to comply will reportedly result in a fine of up to €250,000 ($258,000) per violation or imprisonment for up to two years for repeated breaches, the media outlet noted. The litigation was reportedly focused on a piece by Andrey Popov titled 'A Fan of Germany and a Friend of Putin: Who is the Russian Oligarch Alisher Usmanov?' published by Tagesspiegel in November 2024. The article contained a number of allegations, including claims about assets in Germany purportedly owned by the mogul along with accusations that he used his unproved connections with Russian authorities to boost his fortune. The piece was deleted shortly after a request from Usmanov's lawyer, EU Today noted, but the newspaper continued to spread the claims, forcing the businessman to seek legal redress. The latest ruling specifically bans the statements alleging that the businessman 'was able to buy up major Soviet-era assets at bargain prices in exchange for services and cooperation with the authorities,' as well as claims that 'the foundation of his prosperity was securing large and highly lucrative government contracts without real competition—such as in the construction sector.' READ MORE: German judge backs Russian tycoon over US media giant Moreover, the court prohibited the newspaper from further claims about property on Lake Tegernsee in Bavaria or the yacht Dilbar, allegedly owned by Usmanov, after Tagesspiegel failed to provide any evidence proving the ownership of the property. The court ruling, described by Usmanov's attorneys as 'a landmark decision,' is not the first victory clinched by the billionaire in his legal battle against Western media giants spreading misinformation about him. A year ago, the District Court of Hamburg in Germany banned Forbes magazine from disseminating statements about his alleged connection to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In October 2024, Usmanov filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office in the German city of Cologne seeking to hold Hans-Joachim Seppelt, a journalist with the German TV channel ARD, criminally liable for claims that the tycoon was behind a scheme to manipulate referees during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Media holding Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) that runs the broadcaster had previously admitted that the reports were libelous. The businessman, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at $14.9 billion, was placed under EU sanctions over the alleged ties to Putin shortly after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Usmanov attempted to challenge Brussels' decision to blacklist him, but his appeal has been dismissed.
