A Russian oligarch with close ties to Putin and with alleged assets in UK bank accounts operated by Graham Bonham-Carter that were seized by the National Crime Agency has ‘sold’ this plush five-star hotel in the Austrian Alps to his own cousin.
The move is reported as Western authorities ramp up the hunt for Russian oligarchs and their assets after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Russian industrialist and longtime Putin ally Oleg Deripaska, 54, reportedly owned the plush, five-star Hotel Aurelio in the mountain village of Lech am Arlberg, which is an exclusive ski resort located in Austria’s westernmost state of Vorarlberg, in the Austrian Alps.
The revelation comes as British newspapers, including the Guardian, reported last Friday, on 4th March, that the UK National Crime Agency had frozen bank accounts operated by a man named as Graham Bonham-Carter, who is reportedly the famous actress Helena Bonham Carter’s second cousin.
Deripaska’s ownership of the Austrian hotel was reportedly established by local media, who now say that it has changed hands and is in the ownership of his cousin.
The hotel is reportedly owned by an offshore company registered in Cyprus called Dornton Ltd. Dornton Ltd reportedly changed hands on 13th January this year and is now owned by Deripaska’s cousin Pavel Ezubov.
Ezubov reportedly owns the ‘Gost’ hotel group, which is headquartered in the Russian capital Moscow, and which belonged to Deripaska until the United States imposed sanctions on him in 2018.
Deripaska, who acquired Cypriot nationality for himself and his family in 2017 using the Golden Passport scheme, making him and his family EU citizens, has been described as a close ally of Vladimir Putin and has even reportedly claimed to represent the Kremlin when abroad.
The “Gost” group describes itself as one of the largest hotel groups in Russia, with ownership of approximately 40 hotels and spas in Moscow, as well as in10 other cities, which they also operate, according to local media reports.
In the imprint on the hotel’s website, Aurelio GmbH & Co KG was listed as a company that belongs to Dornton Ltd, according to local media.
The hotel is also listed on the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKOe) website as the Aurelio GmbH and Co KG, registered at Tannenberg 130, 6764, Lech.
The same company appears to also be listed on the large Austrian company directory FirmenABC.at, as connected to Dornton Ltd.
Aurelio Managing Director Axel Pfefferkorn reportedly refused to answer local media’s questions about its ownership, stressing that the Aurelio is an Austrian company with Austrian employees.
Pfefferkorn said: “We should stick together in Vorarlberg. We have nothing Russian here.”
The comment was reportedly made after an organic farmer named as Simon Vetter announced that he would no longer deliver his vegetables to the “oligarch Oleg Deripaska in Lech” after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Aurelio hotel, on its website, promises an “exhilarating” experience and lists luxury partners such as champagne makers Veuve Cliquot and Krug and British motor vehicle manufacturer Bentley.
Deripaska is considered to be close to the Kremlin – but in the past few days, he has repeatedly called for peace to be achieved “as soon as possible”.
