A Russian oligarch left his mansion to Prince Harry and Meghan when they lived in Canada | People | Entertainment

The Canadian mansion in which Prince Harry and his wife Meghan resided at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, after leaving the United Kingdom, is from the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, linked to the Kremlin and that for years he hid his relationship with the property.

This is confirmed on Thursday by an investigation by the Canadian public broadcaster, CBC, which explains that the property of the Mille Fleurs mansion located on Vancouver Island and valued at millions of dollars, is hidden behind a complex network of companies. in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and Jersey.

The property of the mansion in which Prince Harry and Meghan took refuge at the start of their crisis with the rest of the British royal family has been shrouded in mystery for years.

Until now, we only knew that their stay had been organized by Canadian music producer David Foster, whose wife, singer Katharine McPhee, is a friend of Meghan Markle.

CBC said, thanks to the documents included in the leak of the pandora papers of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), that Milner is behind the property.

Milner is a well-known Russian-born billionaire who has made big profits with investments in companies such as Facebook or Twitter.

In 2017, it became known that about half of his investments in Twitter came from money provided by VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest bank and which finances the activities of officials and oligarchs linked at the highest level to the Russian regime.

The CBC also said the money Milner used to break into Facebook and multiply his initial investment came indirectly from hundreds of millions of dollars in loans granted by Gazpromthe Russian public energy company.

These loans are in turn linked to fellow Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has been included on the list of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by Canada. VTB Bank and Gazprom were also sanctioned by Ottawa.

Although Milner’s representatives initially denied his involvement in the Canadian mansion, the Pandora Papers revealed that the Russian billionaire owned the Andromeda Trustwho in turn owned the property.

A 2018 letter from Milner’s attorney notes, “Potential beneficiaries of the Andromeda Trust include charities, family and friends of Yuri Milner.”

The same representatives added that years ago Milner and his relatives ceased to be beneficiaries of the fund owned by Enrique and Meghan’s Canadian mansion. (I)