“Villa in Cap Martin, a company based in Monaco: how the French and Monegasque justices traced the trail of Putin's hidden treasure on the Côte d'Azur” (Nice Matin)
Twenty years ago, as Prince Albert II’s intelligence adviser, I briefed him on a Russian company in Monaco that acted as the money laundering branch of Horizon Oil Terminal in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The company’s name was Sotrama and we linked it directly to Vladimir Putin.
(In 2016 Sotrama changed its name to CinPit.)
Monaco authorities have finally acted—three long years since the EU placed sanctions on Russia, to which Monaco agreed to join.
What did they discover?
Sotrama/CinPit was/is engaged in money laundering.
Sotrama connects to Putin through his mistress Alina Kabaeva and the Villa Marina Irina in neighboring Cap Martin.
A Monegasque auditor who oversaw the sale of the Villa told Nice Matin: "It had even become a joke in the office to laugh about. We said that we would have to ask for Putin's passport to validate the sale."
ChaptGPT (AI) summarized the story from Nice Matin:
French and Monegasque authorities are investigating Villa in Cap Martin, a luxurious estate linked to Vladimir Putin and Russian oligarchs.
The inquiry centers around CinPit, a Monaco-based company suspected of facilitating money laundering through Gazprom-related energy deals.
French prosecutors suspect that the villa’s official owner, Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, is merely a front for hidden Russian interests.
Investigators have traced financial connections between CinPit, Gazprom, and high-profile Russians, including former KGB-affiliated elites.
They believe Putin acquired the estate for his rumored mistress, Alina Kabaeva.
Meanwhile, one of CinPit's former executives, now linked to a Dubai-based shadow fleet of oil tankers, is suspected of helping Russia bypass Western sanctions.
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According to this Monaco police file, Monegasque authorities knew as far back as February 2007 that Sotrama linked to Russian Organized Crime—and did nothing about it.
