According to the Chessbase News article -MJMcCready wrote:The yanks are more than welcome to him. Maybe they can get to the bottom of what happened to Larisa Yudina as well.
That may be as far as getting "to the bottom of what happened to Larisa Yudina" will ever go, since it was dealt with under Russian criminal jurisdiction."An advisor to Ilyumzhinov, then President of Kalmykia, was convicted in Russia in 1999 for the murder of an opposition journalist who reportedly was investigating an offshore business registration mechanism..." [US Treasury OFAC Press Release]
The press release quoted by Chessbase continues -
The "business registration mechanism" had an international dimension as it was "offshore". How offshore was it? Just Russia-Kalmykia or did it involve other financial jurisdictions?"... an offshore business registration mechanism in Kalmykia tied to Ilyumzhinov. Russian authorities subsequently closed... [it]... after concluding that it was being used for illegal purposes." [US Treasury OFAC]
(Strange to say but Scotland has now become a leading shade - as opposed to a light - in the world of shadowy offshore business registrations, with many Russian, Baltic and other dubious nations' hiding - as opposed to holding - 'companies' being set up there in order to screen and launder money illegally obtained elsewhere. It is a scandal that the UK and Scottish authorities are doing little, if anything, to halt!)
And, despite Ilyumzhinov seeming to claim in the article that he has no foreign assets, he does travel abroad on FIDE business and seems to conduct some personal business at the same time. It is in that respect that he may find he will experience some difficulies from now on - his wings may well have been somewhat clipped.
Far from keeping a low profile, the FIDE President seems determined to brazen it out and go ahead with his impending, planned visit to the US. Although he has not been declared persona non grata by the US government the welcome there is likely to be a limited and frosty one. (European leaders, including those in the UK, should take note and cease to welcome Kirsan like a trusted partner and friend.)
His long tenure - as the Godfather of International Chess - may be drawing to a close, or at least become diminished.