Italy police seize assets from architect linked to Russia – source

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s tax police have seized assets worth over 141 million euros ($144 million) from an architect who has been linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

The tax police sent a statement earlier on Wednesday saying it had seized the assets from a “well-known professional” in Brescia, a town in northern Italy, citing alleged tax offences. It declined to name the person when contacted by Reuters.

The source said the assets belonged to Lanfranco Cirillo, who had designed a grand estate on the Black Sea in Russia that became known as “Putin’s palace” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-capitalism-health-special-repo-idINBREA4K0D220140521 after a businessman alleged the estate was built for Putin.

The Russian president has in the past denied any link to the luxury property.

A lawyer for Cirillo did not respond when contacted by Reuters.

In an interview with Italian televison earlier this year, Cirillo said he had designed the building but said it was commissioned by a private group and he had had no dealings with Putin.

($1 = 0.9822 euros)

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Keith Weir and Andrew Cawthorne)