Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has retrieved all cash and gold bars seized during the searches conducted in his St. Petersburg offices by law enforcers, Fontanka reports.
Photo: Fontanka
According to the media outlet, 10 billion rubles (€102 million) and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash along with five gold bars were returned to Prigozhin on the evening of 2 July. Fontanka writes that Prigozhin’s driver went to fetch the cash and valuables with a notarised authorisation permit. The Wagner chief himself was in Moscow that day.
Journalists note that the law enforcers did not intend to part with the seized money on the morning of 2 July.
“Prosecutors will now work on these billions, Prigozhin won’t see them. The prosecution will lodge a court case and everything will be returned to the public funds,” 47news was told by a source involved in the investigation.
Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group mercenaries announced a March of Justice on Moscow late on 23 June. They captured Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh the next day, and started moving towards the Russian capital.
On 23 June, Prigozhin’s offices in St. Petersburg were searched. Police officers discovered boxes filled with cash. Prigozhin soon responded to the reports, saying that the Wagner Group always pays its mercenaries and family members in cash as specified in their contracts.
