New twist in the Rybolovlev affair. This week, the Swiss judiciary overturned the classification of the case opened following the complaint by AS Monaco President Dmitri Rybolovlev against art dealer Yves Bouvier, whom he accuses of fraud. The case was dropped by Geneva’s first prosecutor’s office last year, but the Russian billionaire immediately announced his intention to appeal.
In a press release issued on Thursday, lawyers for companies linked to the Rybolovlev family trusts said the Geneva court had asked prosecutors to reopen the investigation into the Bouvier case. “This verdict shows the emptiness of Yves Bouvier’s defense and the futility of his imaginative statements,” said Me Sandrine Giroud and Me Benoît Mauron.
An “alleged damage” is estimated at more than one billion euros
In a July 26 ruling, the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Geneva Court of Justice specifically emphasizes that “the public interest in prosecution persists,” stating that “the alleged harm” was “inflicted” on companies linked to the family trusts Rybolovlev is approaching “one billion Swiss francs” (more than one billion euros).
For his part, Bouvier indicated that he was “delighted to open an additional investigation in Geneva”. “I therefore look forward to the work of the judiciary to finally bring the truth to light,” he said in a press release this Thursday.