LONDON (Reuters) -U.S. private equity firm TPG and Russian state-owned firms Rosatom and Transneft on Friday won their bid to block jailed tycoon Ziyavudin Magomedov’s $14 billion London lawsuit over an alleged conspiracy to strip his assets.
Magomedov sued the companies and several others at London’s High Court, alleging his 2018 arrest on embezzlement charges prompted a Russian state-supported scheme to strip him of his holdings in valuable port operators.
The defendants all denied the allegations and last year argued that the lawsuit should be thrown out, with TPG’s lawyers accusing Magomedov of concocting “preposterous allegations”.
Judge Robert Bright ruled that the case should not continue, saying in a written ruling that there was “no serious issue to be tried” against TPG or Transneft and that any case against Rosatom should not be heard in London.
A spokesperson for Magomedov said: “We are naturally disappointed with the decision and intend to seek permission to appeal.”
A spokesperson for TPG said the company was “pleased to put this baseless matter behind us”.
Magomedov once controlled an empire ranging from port logistics to oil and gas through his Summa Group conglomerate, which he founded with his brother Magomed.
But the brothers were arrested on embezzlement and organised crime charges in one of the most high-profile prosecutions of its kind in years.
Magomedov was sentenced to 19 years in jail in 2022 and is held in a penal colony in Kirov, 900 km (560 miles) east of Moscow, according to court filings for last year’s hearing.
Magomedov says the charges against him are unfounded and unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction.
(Reporting by Sam TobinEditing by Sachin Ravikumar and Peter Graff)
