ATHENS, February 24 (RAPSI) – Yelena Rybolovleva, the estranged wife of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, will be questioned in Cyprus within 24 hours to determine the need to keep her in custody, RIA Novosti reported Tuesday.
The Cyprus Mail wrote on Monday, citing a police source, that Yelena was detained in connection with the alleged theft of a diamond ring believed to be worth $25 million.
Rybolovleva, age 48, allegedly borrowed the ring from Domus Trust, a Cypriot International Trust company, and gave it to her 25-year-old daughter in Switzerland in 2009 but never returned it to the trust.
Yelena, who is divorcing her husband for alleged adultery, is demanding $3.5 billion from him. It transpired in August 2013 that she also filed a suit in Hawaii in which she claimed that Dmitry Rybolovlev was buying expensive property in the United States with “the specific intent of hiding and diverting his personal interest in the property.”
Dmitry Rybolovlev, who sold his stake in fertilizer producer Uralkali for $6.5 billion in 2010, had almost a 10% stake in the Bank of Cyprus prior to the bailout scheme. His personal wealth is estimated at $9 billion.