Police have searched two branches of Swiss bank UBS in Germany in connection with alleged money laundering by a Russian businessman, according to German officials and media. On Tuesday Frankfurt prosecutor Georg Ungefuk did not identify the suspect by name, but said the raids were connected to an investigation in which officials raided a luxury yacht and two dozen properties in Germany in September. Spiegel news magazine cited Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin who is subject to US and European Union sanctions, as the target in that operation. An Usmanov spokesperson categorically rejected the allegations, describing them as unfounded, false and defamatory. “The businessman is a law-abiding and conscientious taxpayer who has paid taxes in Russia,” the spokesperson said, declining to comment on whether the searches were related to Usmanov. Shares down Ungefuk stressed that the bank was not under investigation. He said the raids were...
