Sergei Roldugin, the cellist who holds the key to tracing Putin’s hidden fortune
The Russian president’s best friend portrays himself as a modest musician, but leaked (Panama Papers) documents reveal his role in a secret money-go-round
by Luke Harding
April 3, 2016, The Guardian
It’s a touching family photo. In the centre is Vladimir Putin, holding his new baby daughter, Maria. Next to him is Lyudmila, his wife, with a bouquet of flowers. She has threaded her arm through his. On either side are Maria’s godparents, Ira and Sergei Roldugin.
Maria, also known as Masha, was born on 28 April 1985 and the photo was taken soon after. The city was Leningrad, the country – though not for much longer – the USSR. Father’s occupation: KGB officer.
Roldugin was the obvious choice as godfather: he had known Putin for eight years and was his best friend. Putin was at KGB training school with Roldugin’s brother Yevgeny.
“He was like a brother to me,” Sergei Roldugin later recalled of his friend, known by the family as Volodya. They had youthful adventures: cruising the city at night, singing songs, and – as Roldugin tells it – getting into the odd street fight. They played football: “He was tenacious, like a bulldog.”
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The Panama Papers show at least five secretly owned offshore entities in the Mossack Fonseca files linked to the Roldugin operation. They have largely meaningless names – Sonnette Overseas, International Media Overseas, Sunbarn, Raytar, Sandalwood Continental Ltd.
But one connection brings them all together. The firms are all linked to a company of Swiss lawyers. And they in turn act for a single organisation: Bank Rossiya, which is no ordinary bank.
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https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/sergei-roldugin-the-cellist-who-holds-the-key-to-tracing-putins-hidden-fortune
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