Major Development in the Rybolovlev Affair: Case Against Yves Bouvier in Monaco Dismissed After Investigation Found to be Systematically Biased

MONACO, Dec. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Monaco's Court of Appeal has dismissed the criminal proceedings against Yves Bouvier initiated by the Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, owner of the AS Monaco football club. It was concluded that the investigation against Bouvier was carried out with a systematic partiality and bias which tainted the whole proceeding.

The criminal proceeding launched in January 2015 by the Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, against Yves Bouvier has been dismissed by the Monaco Court of Appeal on 12 December, 2019. The Court found that "all investigations were conducted in a biased and unfair way without the defendant being in a position to retrospectively redress these serious anomalies that permanently compromised the balance of rights of the parties."

The Court also said that "the evidence of the proceedings were all collected under conditions which significantly undermined the rights of the defendant."

Similarly, it concluded that "all the acts of the investigation as well as the introductory submission of February 24, 2015 is tainted by this grievance (infringement of the rights of the defence) as well as the subsequent charges against Yves Bouvier or Tania Boltadjieva (Rappo) on February 28, 2015 and all subsequent acts of investigation which are the direct consequence thereof, since these irregularities which seriously tainted the search and the establishment of the truth impacting in a continuous and systematic way the entire proceeding."

This decision is a major turning point in the Rybolovlev affair and marks the end of legal proceedings in Monaco against Yves Bouvier.

Yves Bouvier said: "Dmitry Rybolovlev's arguments never hold up to legal scrutiny and this is the reason why he has not won a single case against me in any jurisdiction. Rybolovlev's attacks against me had nothing to do with the sale of art. He was trying to artificially depreciate the value of his collection in the midst of his divorce proceeding, to punish me for having refused to corrupt the Swiss judges in his divorce, and to steal my freeport in Singapore and its technology to build a new one in Vladivostok".

Mr. Bouvier was advised by a team of lawyers in Monaco, France and Switzerland composed of Luc Brossollet, Charles Lecuyer, David Bitton, Frank Michel and Alexandre Camoletti.

Mr. Rybolovlev, who had initiated a string of commercial and criminal cases against Mr. Bouvier in multiple jurisdictions, is now under criminal investigations notably for corruption and influence trafficking in Monaco, France and Switzerland in relation to his attacks against Mr. Bouvier.