The proceedings of the Federal Prosecutor's Office against the Russian billionaire Dmitri Rybolowlew were discontinued without charges. Since 2017, the art collector and owner of the AS Monaco football club has been under investigation.

The investigation centered on suspicions of «prohibited acts on behalf of a foreign state». It concerned his involvement in the arrest of Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier in Monaco. Allegedly, he facilitated the Swiss citizen's arrival in Monaco, where they were then arrested by the principality's police.

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland come to the conclusion that the defence had «a plausible version [...] that calls into question the realization of the crime,» says an email from Rybolowlew's lawyers. It was noted that elements that led to the opening of the investigation came from the illegal use of private data from the mobile phone of Rybolovlev's lawyer, Tetiana Bersheda. The Federal Prosecutor's Office is therefore of the opinion that these factors may not be used against him, it continues. Therefore, it was concluded that «there is no suspicion that justifies an indictment».

Discord Between Collector and Dealer

Bouvier was arrested in 2015 on his way to a meeting with Rybolovlev in his penthouse in Monaco. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed in 2019 by a Monegasque judge, who concluded that the investigation that preceded Bouvier's arrest was flawed.

The investigation in Switzerland was only a minor part of the long-running legal disputes between Rybolovlev and Bouvier, which have spanned several years. The case involves allegedly inflated prices for artworks by renowned artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Gustav Klimt, and René Magritte, which the Russian-Cypriot dual citizen purchased from the Geneva dealer.

Bouvier was accused of overcharging by approximately $1 billion across 38 transactions valued at around $2 billion. Legal proceedings were initiated in the USA, Switzerland, France, Singapore, and Monaco. In December 2023, the collector and the dealer reached a settlement, concluding the final legal disputes.

One of the paintings Rybolovlev acquired from Bouvier was «Salvator Mundi,» attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The artwork was later sold at auction in 2017 for $400 million, setting a record as the highest price ever achieved for a painting at auction.