Russian Billionaire Cleared in Art Dealer Arrest Case

Dmitry Rybolovlev, the Russian billionaire, has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the 2015 arrest of art dealer Yves Bouvier, Bloomberg reports, citing his lawyers.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has closed the criminal proceedings against Rybolovlev, which were initiated in 2017.

The investigation focused on accusations that Rybolovlev had illegally used “false pretenses or threats” to have Bouvier taken abroad and handed over to a foreign authority. However, the Swiss Attorney General concluded that “no suspicion justifying an indictment has been established,” confirming Rybolovlev’s innocence.

This decision marks a significant development in the long-running feud between the two men, which has spanned several countries and involved accusations of fraud and manipulation. The dispute began when Rybolovlev accused Bouvier of overcharging him by roughly $1 billion for a collection of artworks by renowned artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Rene Magritte.

In 2015, Bouvier was arrested in Monaco, shortly before a meeting with Rybolovlev. While Monaco authorities later dismissed the case in 2019, citing irregularities in the investigation, the Swiss investigation remained open.

Bouvier and his legal team have maintained that he was not Rybolovlev’s broker and that the Russian businessman was simply a willing buyer who paid top prices for the artwork.