The British government extended sanctions to advisers and relatives of Russian oligarchs

The British government announced this Wednesday that it extended sanctions to financial advisers, family members and allies who helped hide or move the financial assets of Russian oligarchs such as Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov.

According to the Foreign Office, the measure is aimed at punishing people who helped the oligarchs avoid capital and real estate sanctions through networks of sophisticated companies based in tax havens.

This new round of sanctions includes Demetris Ioannidis and Christodoulos Vassiliades, two Cypriots who advised Abramovich and Usmanov, as well as relatives of other oligarchs who have acquired stakes in companies and properties abroad to avoid sanctions.

According to the British government, Ioannides is a business service provider who helped Abramovich hide more than £760 million (863 million euros) of assets before he was sanctioned, including a mansion in London.

Vassiliades is a Cypriot lawyer who created a series of companies that now own Sutton Place Estate, a 16th-century mansion purchased by Usmanov.

In total, after an investigation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the tax service and other government agencies, 10 people and four companies were targeted.

“We are tightening control over the Russian elite and those who are trying to help them hide money for the war. They have nowhere to hide. We will continue to deprive them of assets that they thought were hidden,” the chief warned. British Diplomacy James Cleverley.

The United Kingdom has already frozen more than £18bn (€20bn) in assets as part of sanctions imposed following the Russian military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to the British government.