Bernard Arnault, the world’s second-richest person and head of luxury goods group LVMH, is under investigation by the Paris public prosecutor’s office for financial transactions allegedly involving money laundering.
First reported by Le Monde, the investigation also encompasses Russian businessman Nikolai Sarkisov, whose brother Sergei founded the Russian insurance company Reso-Garantia.
Le Monde cited a December 2022 document from Tracfin, a division of France’s justice system tasked with combating money laundering, which reportedly lists transactions “which may characterise money laundering,” involving property at the prestigious Courchevel ski resort.
A spokesperson for Reso-Garantia denied any involvement in the transactions described in the Le Monde article, stating that neither the company nor Sarkisov had been part of the deal.
They also clarified that Sarkisov and Arnault have never met and that they had received no contact or requests for documents from French or other international authorities.
Arnault’s fortune, estimated at $164 billion, stems from his family’s 41% ownership of LVMH, the holding company of iconic luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Moët champagne, Hennessy cognac, Tiffany’s, and Tag Heuer.
Paris investigation is scrutinising transactions related to the purchase of 14 properties in Courchevel during the autumn of 2018.
Sarkisov reportedly acquired real estate at the luxury Alpine resort via a transaction in which Arnault, through one of his companies, had provided a loan.
The transaction was managed by a small investment unit that invests professionally in European real estate and was executed by French companies, through French notaries and lawyers.
A person close to Arnault, cited by Le Monde, asserted that the transaction had been executed in full compliance with French law.