CRACKDOWN

Vladimir Putin’s Architect Lanfranco Cirillo Accused of Tax Evasion in Italy

Finance police seized millions in assets belonging to Lianfranco Cirillo, the architect who built the massive palace in Gelendzhik, Russia, thought to belong to Putin.

Italian financial police have seized “highly valuable” assets, including a private helicopter and original art by Picasso and Cezanne, of the Italian architect credited with building Vladimir Putin’s supposed mansion on the Black Sea. Lanfranco Cirillo, who has said he has built villas for 43 Russian billionaires and who Putin personally awarded honorary Russian citizenship in 2014, is under investigation for dodging $56 million in taxes. Authorities say the investigation is in the “beginning stages” and many of the architect’s assets are owned by his wife. More than 100 special agents with Italy’s Guardia di Finanzia tax police swooped in on a villa in Brescia, where most of his most prized assets were kept. Cirillo, who is believed to be in Russia, has not been arrested.