Crimean Prosecutor General Natalya Poklonskaya has revealed a series of deals set up to help Lenur Islyamov — one of the coordinators of the so-called food blockade of Crimea — hide ownership of his Crimean assets, the TASS news agency wrote Wednesday.
Poklonskaya told reporters that Islyamov “took steps to transfer [Crimean] assets to his affiliates. These attempts were made after his attitude toward Russia had changed sharply.”
She added that Crimean law enforcement agencies were looking into the case, and would “take action” to seize the assets and detain their owner.
On Sept. 20, Islyamov took part in initiating a blockade of the peninsula, which saw Crimean Tatar activists preventing trucks carrying goods from mainland Ukraine from entering Crimea, Russian media reported.
Crimean authorities have already confiscated real estate owned by Islyamov on the peninsula's southern coast, and announced the forfeiture of all his declared assets as part of a criminal case lodged against him, the website Lenta.ru wrote Wednesday.
On Nov. 2, TASS reported that an investigation into the enterprises controlled by Islyamov had been launched in Crimea, quoting the press service of the local department of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
Islyamov, who holds Russian citizenship, served as deputy prime minister of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea prior to the peninsula's annexation by Russia in March 2014.
He currently controls the local SimCity Trans transportation company and the ATR TV channel, which has stopped broadcasting in Russia, according to news reports.
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