Italy: The “cursed” villa belonging to a Russian oligarch seized – From the countess who committed suicide to Tutankhamun

Its financial police Italy proceeded to seize properties belonging to two Russian oligarchsin the resorts of Portofino and Sirmione, as reported by the Reuters agency citing well-informed imgs, as well as the Italian media.

In particular, the financial police (Guardia di Finanza) seized it “Villa Altachiara” – a luxurious mansion on Cape Portofino, in the Ligurian Sea – a villa and a car in Rome, owned by businessman Eduard Hudaynatov. At the same time, the activities of a company in Portofino allegedly linked to him were also “frozen”.

The “cursed” villa

Khudainatov had acquired “Villa Altachiara” for around 25 million euros, according to the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera”. Which, doesn’t have a good… past. From 2001 to 2015 it was abandoned due to disputes between the heirs of Countess Francesca Vaca Agusta who tragically lost her life when she committed suicide at the age of 58 when she fell into the sea from a cliff near the villa.

“Now, the costs of the maintenance will go to the state. I hope the war will end quickly and everything will “unfreeze””the mayor of Portofino, Matteo Viacava, told the same Italian newspaper and continued: “It is true that the villa does not bring good luck to their owners. Things happen to them”.

The story that the villa is “cursed” was born with the house itself. It was built in 1874 by Henry Herbert V, Count of Carnavon, who was one of the financiers of the archaeological dig in Egypt that located Tutankhamun’s tomb. He died a few months after the sarcophagus was found.

Then the villa passed into the hands of Count Corrado Agusta, a well-known businessman in the field of helicopters, who in the 80s before his death from a serious illness was accused of illegal arms trade.

Khudainatov was included in the list of EU sanctions after the start of the Russian one invasion of Ukraineone of the imgs cited by Reuters pointed out, adding that his assets amount to around 57 million euros.

Last May, Italian police seized a luxury yacht, worth around $700 million, allegedly owned by Khudainatov, who reports have linked him to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In another operation, a building complex in Sirmione – a city on the shores of Lake Garda in south-eastern Italy – was seized, with an estimated value of more than €15m. According to a img cited by Reuters, the building complex belongs to businessman Grigory Bereskin.

In March and April, Italian authorities “froze” mansions and yachts of Russian oligarchs who regularly traveled to Italy on vacation and had bought properties in popular resorts. The total value of the assets of Russian oligarchs that have been seized in Italy so far is estimated at at least 1.7 billion euros, according to figures from the financial police.