The Scottish Castle At The Center Of A $700 Million Legal Battle Between The Kremlin And A Russian Oligarch

A fairy tale castle in Scotland is at the center of a £572 million ($700 million) legal battle between Russia and a Russian billionaire.

The Tower of Lethendy, an eight-bedroom mansion in Meikleour, near Perth, is part of a 140-property portfolio that Russia is trying to confiscate from oligarch Boris Mints.

Mints, 61, who featured on Forbes’ billionaires list in 2017 with a wealth estimated in $1.3 billion, is the co-founder of Russia’s former largest privately owned bank, Otkritie.

In 2017 Otkritie collapsed and was bailed-out, along two other private banks, by the Russian central bank for almost $50 billion.

Last month, the central bank filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against Otkritie’s former owners in order to cover part of the losses incurred during the bailout.

Mints sold its stake in Otkritie in 2013 to set up his own investment firm, Cyprus-based O1 Group, but according to the claimants he continued to deal with the private bank until its collapse.

On 28 June, London’s High Court, at the request of Russia’s central bank, has issued a freezing order on Mints’ holdings – including the Tower of Lethendy.

Mints’ lawyers managed to replace the order with an injunction preventing the Russian billionaire to sell or transfer the property.

Court papers seen by the London’s Times say that the claimants, Russia’s bank and its wholly owned subsidiary Otkritie, “have permission to apply to the Court of Session for the purpose of obtaining a warrant of inhibition with the registers of Scotland in respect of property known as the Tower of Lethendy.”

The Russian oligarch bought the castle through a Cayman Islands-registered company, MFT Braveheart, for more than £2.5 million in 2016.

The 16th century property, which sits on a 39-acre park and is made of local red sandstone, boasts its own 18-hole golf course, two tennis courts and a swimming pool.

It was initially marketed by estate agent Savills with a £4.6m price tag and reportedly offered to popstar Taylor Swift.

Mints denied any wrongdoing and announced he will challenge the allegations in court.

“The only motivation the claimants had when submitting the [claim] is to put more pressure on me personally, my sons and to put my family in a further uncomfortable situation,” Mints said.

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.