Friedman lost a court case over maintaining a mansion in London

The High Court of London was not satisfied with the claim of the Russian sanctioned billionaire Mikhail Fridman, who sought to lift the ban on the use of his fixed funds to maintain the Athlone House mansion in the north of the British capital. Reuters reported this on October 26.

Friedman sued the UK’s Financial Sanctions Authority (OFSI) after it prevented him from spending £30,000 a month on the maintenance of the luxury home he bought in 2016 for £65 million.

In addition, the businessman plans to spend £1,850 per month on communication systems, which he says will control telephones, internet, lighting, heating and security.

Friedman also wants to be allowed to spend money on non-security staff, including a driver, who he said was denied on the grounds that he could take public transportation.

If he is not allowed to spend money on the mansion, which houses a £44 million art collection, it will be destroyed, the businessman’s lawyers say.

The British Financial Sanctions Authority believes that if Friedman can spend 30 thousand pounds a month on the maintenance of the mansion, he will be able to lead the same lifestyle as before the introduction of the measures.

The court also considered that OFSI had already allowed the billionaire to allocate large sums to maintain the mansion: about 760 thousand pounds a year and about 1.4 million pounds to pay off debts accumulated in the past.

Friedman’s lawyers told the hearing that he wanted to return to Britain, but the judge said this was impossible because the businessman was on the sanctions list.

We remind you that the Russian oligarch, whom Forbes magazine estimates at $12.8 billion, will be under sanctions in the UK from March 2022.

In Ukraine, Fridman was accused of financing Russian troops and money laundering.