Latest news with #propertyseizure
France 24
04-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
E.Guinea launches ICJ case against France over Paris mansion
The west African nation asked the International Court of Justice to issue emergency orders against France over a building seized after the conviction of Vice President Teodorin Obiang for corruption. It asked the court to order France not to sell the mansion, located on the upscale Avenue Foch near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which the two countries have been squabbling over for several years. French authorities seized the property, which boasts a cinema, hammam and marble and gold water taps, after convicting Obiang under a law targeting fortunes fraudulently amassed by foreign leaders. In 2021, France's top appeals court gave Obiang -- the eldest son of the long-standing president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang -- a three-year suspended sentence and 30 million euros in fines. France also confiscated assets, including the luxurious Avenue Foch building with an estimated value well above 100 million euros. In its latest complaint to the ICJ, dated July 3 but published by the court on Friday, Equatorial Guinea says French police entered the property last month and changed the locks on several of the doors. Equatorial Guinea called on the court to order France to give it "immediate, complete and unhindered access" to the building. Embassy or residence? The mansion was also at the centre of an earlier case filed by Equatorial Guinea in 2016 at the ICJ, which rules on disputes between UN member states. Equatorial Guinea argued the building served as the country's embassy in France and that France had broken the Vienna Convention, which safeguards diplomats from interference by host countries. But the UN court sided with France, which said the building was merely Teodorin Obiang's residence and served no diplomatic purpose. The ICJ upheld France's objections that Equatorial Guinea had only tried to designate it as such after the investigation began into Obiang, and that the country already had an embassy in Paris. A request for emergency orders -- provisional measures, in the court's jargon -- takes precedence over all other court business. The ICJ is currently wrestling with a busy caseload, including a high-profile case brought by South Africa against Israel alleging breaches of the UN Genocide Convention in Gaza. It is also expected to deliver a key ruling on countries' climate change obligations within months. While the ICJ is the top United Nations court, whose rulings are binding, it has no way of enforcing its decisions.
Reuters
20-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Moscow promises to closely monitor foreign businesses that return to Russia
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 20 (Reuters) - Russia's Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, who has led the state's efforts to seize property worth 2.4 trillion roubles ($31 billion), on Friday said foreign companies that return to the country would be watched closely to ensure Russia benefited. Moscow has placed around a dozen foreign-owned assets under state management in the more than three years that Russia has been fighting in Ukraine and prosecutors have stepped up the seizure of domestic assets through the courts this year. Now, as the economy begins to slow after two years of growth fuelled by high military spending, Russian officials are trying to find the balance between insulating the economy from exposure to Western nations it considers unfriendly and the need for growth to keep funding the conflict in Ukraine. "We will closely follow the government's actions," Krasnov said. "That is, who will come... on what terms they will come." "We will definitely look at making sure that the conditions under which our (Russian) business operates are better (when Western business returns)," Krasnov said. It must be profitable for Russia's own firms, he said. Russia is prioritising domestic companies, some of whom have taken market share vacated by Western firms, such as McDonald's (MCD.N), opens new tab and Unilever (ULVR.L), opens new tab, that have left since Russia launched the conflict in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the Russian economy could not develop effectively without investment and said Moscow would create conditions to make foreign partners feel comfortable. He said Russian companies should fulfil legally binding buybacks with foreign companies, but stressed that Russia would support measures that benefit its own interests. "If someone left for political reasons, under pressure from their own political elites, their countries, then this means they are unreliable partners," Putin said. Kirill Dmitriev, chief of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, has said that U.S. companies are in talks to return to Russia, although lawyers and investors have told Reuters that sanctions must be lifted before any significant influx can take place. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told the Izvestia daily on Friday that no foreign companies had yet submitted requests to return. "There are no applications for entry yet, but I feel that the situation is changing and interest in investing in Russia is growing," Siluanov said. The sparse Western presence at Russia's forum suggests otherwise, with some analysts also pointing to concerns about property rights. Two sources from Russia's energy and banking sectors said some companies may be interested in returning as there could be money to be made, but not in the current situation. Assets owned by French yoghurt maker Danone ( opens new tab and Danish brewer Carlsberg ( opens new tab are among the foreign assets taken under state control and sold to Kremlin-friendly buyers since 2022. ($1 = 78.4955 roubles)
BBC News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Ex-Leeds mayor loses home after High Court battle
The home of a former lord mayor of Leeds has been seized by the UK law enforcement agency responsible for tackling organised crime and drug National Crime Agency (NCA) won a High Court battle with Abigail Marshall Katung over the rights to the house on Sandmoor Drive in house had been previously owned by a businessman who was suspected of money laundering offences. He handed it over in 2020 as part of a deal with the councillor Mrs Katung, who was not aware of the accusations made against the home's former owner, said she would appeal against the decision. During the court hearing, Mrs Katung said she had entered into an agreement with the previous owner to buy the house in 2015. Mrs Katung said she had paid him about £400,000 of the contracted £1m purchase price, but the remaining sum was never court heard the majority of the funds were sent from Nigeria, where Mrs Katung was born, to the UK using an informal money transfer service which she described as the "black market", although she said it was not 6 June the High Court ruled, despite the payments, Mrs Katung had no legitimate interest or right to the property, which will now be transferred to the his ruling Mr Justice Jay said there were "telling omissions" from Mrs Katung's evidence, adding that he was "not satisfied that she was a particularly reliable witness".In a statement Mrs Katung said her account was "consistent". The NCA will be entitled to damages for Mrs Katung's use of the house since 2020, as well as to its Burgess, head of asset denial at the NCA, said a "substantial sum would be returned to the public purse" following the Katung said she had made "full disclosure" of the ruling prior to it becoming public knowledge, adding: "Whilst this is dreadfully upsetting to me and my family, I have not sought to hide away. "I want to continue to represent my constituents, it is the most satisfying task I have ever undertaken and it is a complete privilege to be able to do so. "I recognise that enquiries will have to be undertaken in order to preserve public confidence in the political system in which I operate. I will cooperate with that process fully and unreservedly."Mrs Katung became Leeds' first lord mayor of African descent when she took over the ceremonial role for a 12-month term in May has lived in the city since she came to the UK to study at the University of Leeds in 2000 and has represented the Little London and Woodhouse ward since being elected in 2019.A spokesperson for the Labour Party said an internal investigation into Mrs Katung was taking place.A Leeds City Council spokesperson said they were unaware of case, adding: "We are currently examining the High Court judgement and are unable to comment further at this time." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
