Alisher Usmanov wins court case against sister-related allegations

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The Hamburg Regional Court in Germany has ruled in favor of Russian entrepreneur Alisher Usmanov in a lawsuit against a German citizen who had claimed on social media that Usmanov used his sister to conceal assets in Swiss bank accounts. Usmanov’s lawyer confirmed the decision.

According to lawyer Joachim Steinhöfel, the court once again established that the sanctions-related allegations against Usmanov and his family were unsupported by any factual evidence. He emphasized that sanctions and reputational claims should not be based on journalistic errors.

In September 2025, the German citizen posted on her social media page, among other claims, that Usmanov had used his sister, Saodat Narzieva, as the apparent owner of accounts at Credit Suisse. When the author refused to remove the post, Usmanov filed a lawsuit with the Hamburg Regional Court, which deemed the statements unlawful and recognized his rights had been violated.

“Violation of the court’s ruling could result in fines of up to 250,000 euros per offense or administrative detention of up to six months, totaling a maximum of two years. The contested post has now been removed,” the lawyer stated.

Steinhöfel added that Narzieva had been included on EU and UK sanctions lists in April 2022. These designations were based on claims reported by The Guardian and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), suggesting that Usmanov had transferred “large assets” to Narzieva and that she owned 27 Swiss bank accounts connected to him.

Representatives of Usmanov and Narzieva rejected these allegations, noting that the claims were based on misinterpretations of internal and incomplete Credit Suisse data. In September 2022, the European Council removed Narzieva from the EU sanctions list, effectively acknowledging that the grounds for restricting her were unfounded. However, UK sanctions against her remain in effect.

“The Hamburg court ruling recognizes that, given Narzieva’s prior removal from the EU sanctions list, any sanctions imposed on her on false grounds should be invalidated in all jurisdictions where they remain in force,” Steinhöfel said.

Since 2023, Usmanov’s lawyers have obtained 15 court orders and 86 cease-and-desist orders worldwide, resulting in corrections or removal of hundreds of unfavorable articles and publications. For example, in January 2024, the Hamburg Regional Court prohibited Forbes USA from publishing claims linking Usmanov to Vladimir Putin.

Previously, Budapest had indicated that if eight Russians, including Usmanov and his sister Gulbahor Ismoilova, were not removed from the EU sanctions list, it would veto the extension of European sanctions against Russia.