ROME -- A Russian businessman has had 41 million euros worth of assets seized in Florence, including company shares and real estate, the Finance Police have reported. 

  The operation, led by the Italian Finance Police, was initiated following a request from Kyiv's specialised anti-corruption prosecutor's office in Ukraine. The businessman, who has not been named, is under investigation for corruption of public officials, money laundering, and fraudulent activities against a Ukrainian agricultural company, with alleged damages exceeding 60 million US dollars. 

  The seized assets include a 12th-century castle, Torre del Gallo, located in Pian de’ Giullari, which the businessman reportedly acquired by reinvesting illicit proceeds.

  The Public Prosecutor’s Office explained that the investigations “have verified that the that the Russian, reinvesting part of the illegally obtained proceeds, holds, through a trust company based in Florence, the ownership of the entire capital of a company that owns a large and luxurious real estate complex in the Tuscan capital. In particular, the assets seized include company shares, with a nominal value of 3 million euros , and four real estate units, worth almost 38 million euros.” 

 lw