German police storm estate of Russian oligarch Usmanov

German police conducted raids targeting a Russian citizen over suspected sanctions violations on Wednesday morning, with German media reporting that the operation centred on oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

The Munich state prosecutor said comprehensive raids had taken place at the residence of a Russian citizen and four other suspects.

Authorities searched 24 properties across four states, including Bavaria, with 250 officers involved in the operation, the prosecutor said.

German broadcasters BR and MDR reported that one of the locations targeted was Usmanov's villa on Tegernsee lake in the southern state.

The prosecutor said the Russian national involved is suspected of having tasked a security company with observing properties in Upper Bavaria financially linked to him even after he was added to the European Union sanctions list.

His payment of that security firm is thought to have flouted a ban on the use of frozen funds, the statement said.

Usmanov, active across a broad range of business sectors, was added to the Western sanctions list in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

He has a net worth of $14.6 billion, according to Forbes.