Lawsuits, family matters: what is known about the “Russian” oligarch arrested in the USA

ForumDaily already wrote that this week in the US city of Greenwich (Connecticut) was Russian billionaire arrested Shalva Chigirinsky. He is accused of “the risk of injury to a minor and illegal contact with a person younger than 16 years”. Chigirinsky was detained by police, and then released on March 17 2016, on bail of $ 50 thousands. The next meeting on the high-profile case of Chigirinsky will be held on March 29.

We decided to find out why the Shalva Chigirinsky family is so famous.

Court cases

Shalva Chigirinsky was a participant in many transactions in the Russian construction market. In the early 90s, he created the ST Development company, and in 2007 - Russian Land Ltd. In addition, he headed the Moscow Oil and Gas Company. In 2008, Forbes placed him at 524th place in the world ranking of billionaires (58th place in Russia) with a fortune of $2,5 billion.

In 2008, Chigirinsky had conflicts with creditors, as well as with the wife of ex-mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov, Elena Baturina. The businessman decided to leave Russia and emigrated to Israel. Creditors in the courts tried to recover from him debts amounting to about $ 32 million. But after Chigirinsky transferred his 2010% of Sibir Energy shares to Gazprom Neft in May 23,3, all cases were closed. He writes about it forbes.ru.

And in 2007, a Russian court, VTB, appealed to a businessman in a British court. Chigirinsky acted as a guarantor for the credit of his development company, but he could not service the debt. The High Court of London at the suit of VTB Bank seized two apartments of an entrepreneur in the center of Moscow, his London mansion Hugh House, located on the French Riviera Villa Maria Irina, and even on a personal collection of antique clocks.

Family affairs

Chigirinsky doesn’t need a scandal involving an underage girl right now. After all, all the energy and a lot of money today are being spent on legal proceedings with the oligarch’s ex-wife, Tatyana Panchenkova. The court must decide the issue of custody of their four children and put an end to the division of property.

Tatyana Panchenkova and her ex-husband. Photo: 365info.kz

Four years ago, the former darling of Chigirinsky filed a civil lawsuit in Connecticut court. Panchenkova argued that her ex-husband had repeatedly “abused her cruel and barbaric”.

A businessman, by court decision, is prohibited from approaching his wife closer than 100 meters, and it is possible to communicate with his children only in the presence of a lawyer. The court made such a decision in the spring of 2012, after Chigirinsky made a scandal at the birthday of his youngest daughter. Then Panchenkova accused him of insulting children and threatening her.

An article about Shalva Chigirinsky "Secret billionaire" in the Israeli newspaper "Yediot Ahronot", 2010 year

However, two years ago, Chigirinsky challenged the ex-spouse’s rights to a part of the property received in 2009 after the divorce, accusing her of illegal enrichment. According to Shalva Chigirinsky, the ex-spouse sold off part of an art collection worth about $ 120 million, which she was supposed to save for children.

Any news related to the name of the oligarch Chigirinsky immediately appears on the front pages of the Russian yellow press. Little is known about the children of Shalva Chigirn. But many Moscow publications wrote about the daughter of his brother Alexander. Last summer, Maria Chigirinskaya married according to Jewish traditions. Among the guests of the celebration were seen the American rapper Busta Rhymes, Philip Kirkorov, Maxim Galkin and many other stars.

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