NICOSIA, Feb 25 — The ex-wife of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev was arrested in Cyprus on suspicion of stealing a diamond ring worth as much as €50 million (RM225 million), police said today.

Elena Rybolovleva, whose ex-husband is the owner of big-spending French football club AS Monaco, was later released without charge, police said.

The Rybolovlev family filed a complaint accusing the woman of stealing a valuable piece of jewellery that media reports said was worth between €25-50 million and belonged to a family trust fund.

She was detained on arrival at Larnaca airport from Switzerland on a private jet and later questioned at Limassol police station on the island’s southern coast before being released late yesterday.

Advertisement

A Cyprus police press officer told AFP that the investigation was continuing but that so far there was no reason to keep the suspect in custody.

The couple — who wed in Cyprus and were married for 23 years — have been embroiled in a bitter dispute over the terms of their divorce since 2008.

Elena is claiming US$3.5 billion (RM11.4 billion) of the tycoon’s estimated US$9 billion fortune.

Advertisement

Rybolovlev was one of the many large Russian depositors in the Bank of Cyprus who suffered a 47.5 per cent “haircut” on their savings of over €100,000 in last March’s international bailout of the financially troubled island.

The family trust fund had been set up for the benefit of the couple’s daughters, Katia and Anna. — AFP