The creator of PIK Group in France is accused of money laundering and tax evasion during the renovation of the hotel.
Kirill Pisarev
A representative of Pisarev’s company Wainbridge International claims that the company is the victim in this case, and the investigation is being carried out against its former business partners.
Kirill Pisarev, co-founder and ex-shareholder of real estate developer PIK, is unable to finish the renovation of the luxury hotel La Voile d’Or due to conflicts in Ukraine and a lack of money, as reported by Nice Matin. Pisarev purchased La Voile d’Or in 2019 and pledged to restore the hotel to its former grandeur. In 2021, the leading developer Wainbridge International Group, where Pisarev serves as the chairman of the board of directors, announced the complete demolition of the hotel and the start of work on a new facility aiming to become the main attraction in the Cote d’Azur hotel industry. However, according to Nice Matin, this work has not yet started.
Hotel La Voile d’Or in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
La Voile d’Or is the first hotel in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, established in 1925. At different times, poet Jean Cocteau, actors David Niven, Gregory Peck and Jack Hawkins, as well as singer Bono, stayed there. American writer Francis Scott Fitzgerald described the hotel as a place “where kings and queens, stars and industry leaders” gathered, and Jean Cocteau called it a place “where you sleep with your head on the sea.” Nice Matin notes that initially the project lacked investors. Nonetheless, according to the newspaper, this doesn't explain such a long construction delay. Nice Matin highlights that the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office is pursuing a case against Pisarev “for money laundering and tax evasion following complaints from the French Ministry of Finance (Tracfin)”, which further complicates the project's progress.
Wainbridge International states that they are unaware of the company or its leaders being under investigation by the Financial Prosecutor’s Office or Tracfin.
“The company did not take any actions that could be seen as violations. At present, law enforcement officers of the Fifth Republic are looking into the actions of former Wainbridge business partners suspected of breaching anti-money laundering laws. Wainbridge is the injured party in this investigation. Simultaneously, the French media correctly point out that Kirill Pisarev is not included in any European or national sanctions lists,” a company representative commented to Forbes.
The company also addressed the delay in the hotel construction: “Active work on the construction of the previously announced project of the hotel complex La Voile d’Or at Cape Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat has not yet begun, but this is not in any way linked to any actions by the French authorities. Negotiations are ongoing with several institutional investors to attract them to the project and start the construction phase.”
In addition to La voile d’Or on the Cote d’Azur, Pisarev owns two more luxurious houses on Dominique-Durandy Avenue, writes Nice Matin. The publication also suggests that the French villas L’Empyree and Casa Ventura belong to the real estate mogul.
In 2011, Pisarev entered the Forbes rating and took 190th place in it with a fortune of $ 500 million. From 2006 to 2009, he was one of the 100 richest people in Russia. And in 2008, he took 160th place in the global rating of billionaires according to Forbes with a capital of $6.1 billion.
In September last year, the entrepreneur resigned from the position of head of the Russian division of Wainbridge and left the shareholders of the Russian company. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, in 2022 Pisarev also refused the role of owner in the oil and gas company RNGC Saratov. As the entrepreneur himself told RBC in 2021, more than 70% of his assets are not located in Russia. Now, according to his friend, he is focusing on projects outside of Russia.
Wainbridge has development projects in the UK, France and the US. 25 projects were successfully implemented, in particular, a five-star Maison Villeroy hotel was built in Paris.
Pisarev, together with partner Yuri Zhukov, founded the First Mortgage Company in 1994. Over time, it turned into the PIK group. In 2007, the IPO of PIK Group was carried out – it became the largest placement among developers on the European market.
Subsequently, both partners entered the Forbes global ranking of billionaires. Zhukov and Pisarev lost control over the company in 2009, and by 2011 they finally left the shareholders. After leaving PIK, Kirill Pisarev created the development company Wainbridge and The Collection, which specializes in real estate management.
