FC Bayern does not come to rest. After the sporting bankruptcies with the departure from the DFB Cup and Champions League, the previous dismissal of Julian Nagelsmann and the leadership crisis around CEO Oliver Kahn and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic as well as various misconduct by players, culminating in Sadio Mané’s physical attack against Leroy Sané, the Association now also an investigation of the Federal Criminal Police Office in cooperation with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office.
According to “Bild” information, both the stadium and the office of the Bundesliga runners-up on Säbener Straße in Munich were searched on Tuesday. The reason is a money laundering procedure against the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
The 69-year-old is on the EU sanctions list as a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin and no longer has access to his billion-dollar fortune due to the Ukraine war.
Usmanov is currently on the run and lived until his disappearance in March 2022 at Tegernsee in the vicinity of Bavaria’s Honorary President Uli Hoeneß. He is accused of evading taxes and moving money. The Russian owns three properties on Tegernsee in which he has stayed regularly since 2016. He also employed staff at his three homes, which were searched in the fall of 2022, but never filed a tax return.
FC Bayern is not accused in the proceedings, only appears as a witness. The aim is to determine when exactly Usmanov was in Germany. It is unclear whether and what evidence was secured during the searches.
The responsible general public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt (Main) explained to the “Bild” request: “Our authority is not conducting any investigations or fines against FC Bayern Munich or those responsible or members of the club.” FC Bayern did not want to respond to the “Bild” request comment on the searches.
