Netherlands Seizing Land Of Putin’s Ex-Son-in-Law (Worthy News-Investigation)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
OUDER-AMSTEL (Worthy News) – Dutch prosecutors have seized a plot of land near the capital Amsterdam that belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former son-in-law, an investigation revealed Thursday.
The land in the Amsterdam suburb of Duivendrecht is owned by Jorrit Faassen, a Dutch businessman married to Maria Vorontsova, the Russian president’s elder daughter.
An investigation seen by Worthy News and carried out by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper and Dutch media outlets Follow the Money and Proekt Media showed that the land was seized on May 12.
The Netherlands’ public prosecutor’s office for financial, economic, and environmental offenses took over the land as part of enforcing sanctions against Russia, Worthy News learned.
Faassen, who lives in Moscow, faced questioning by authorities at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol upon flying into the Netherlands recently, several sources confirmed.
Investigators reportedly questioned Faassen on suspicion of “sanctions evasion” and confiscated his laptop and mobile phone before he quickly returned to Russia’s capital.
Faassen bought the 1,432 square meters (0.35-acre) plot at Molenkade 28 in Duivendrecht for 450,000 euros (about $483,000) in 2019, records showed.
OWN COMPANY
He purchased it from Molenkade Ontwikkeling BV, a company where he was the director.
While the plot is currently empty, Faassen applied in 2021 for permission to build a house and six small office buildings, Worthy News established.
The Ouder-Amstel municipality, which includes Duivendrecht, initially approved the building of offices, a project potentially worth millions in the overcrowded Netherlands. “We don’t look at who the owner is,” the municipality said at the time.
However, in March 2022, Ouder-Amstel halted the permit procedure, citing Faassen’s “close ties” with Putin.
The couple previously sold their penthouse in the Dutch municipality of Voorschoten near The Hague for 1.2 million euros (nearly $1.3 million), several sources said.
Faassen was married to Maria Vorontsova, the Russian president’s elder daughter, since 2008, but the pair later divorced. The couple has a 10-year-old son together, according to Russian media reports.
Both of Putin’s adult daughters, Maria and Katerina, were added to the European Union and United States sanctions lists in April 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
PUBLIC PRESSURE
Faassen was not subject to any sanctions in the United States, European Union, or Britain.
But the seizing of the land suggested the businessman was being investigated for possibly violating sanctions through legal structures.
Yet the municipality and other authorities only acted after mounting public pressure. While Faassen was away, a Ukrainian flag appeared on his property.
And shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, protesters erected signs on the land calling on Putin to “Free Navalny,” referring to the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
They also urged Vorontsova to tell her father to stop the war in Ukraine.
Since then, Europe’s worst conflict since World War Two has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.