Lanfranco Cirillo, the Moscow-based Italian architect who allegedly designed a sprawling, luxurious mansion for Russian president Vladimir Putin, has refused to return to Italy to face an investigation into tax violations and money laundering.

Cirillo, who has been living in Russia for almost three decades, and divides his time between Moscow and Dubai, is said to have designed palatial homes for several Russian oligarchs, with the 18,000sqm project allegedly executed for the Russian president near the Black Sea town of Gelendzhik earning him the sobriquet, ‘Putin’s Architect’.

A native of Brescia in Italy's Lombardy region, the 63-year-old architect is facing charges of financial malfeasance from Italian tax authorities, who have also issued an arrest warrant to bring him to justice.

In August 2022, the Italian authorities had seized substantial assets valued at over €141 million (AUD 220 million) from Cirillo’s country villa in Roncadelle, near Brescia; these included valuable artworks, jewellery, cash and even a helicopter. Earlier in February, several works of art by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Lucio Fontana, Paul Cézanne, and Wassily Kandinsky were confiscated from his home for his alleged failure to pay a €50 million (AUD 78 million) tax bill.

Speaking to ANSA earlier this month, Cirillo said, “Russia is my home. I have my work here, my interests and my main relations.”

"At the moment I have no reason, nor desire, to return to Italy, given the treatment that has been given to me,” he added.

According to ANSA, the trial is set to open in Brescia next month, and he will be tried in absentia; Cirillo has already been declared a fugitive from Italian justice.

Cirillo runs an architectural practice, Masterskaja in Moscow. He received his Russian citizenship in 2014 after living in the country for more than 20 years.

Image: Putin’s Palace; Credit - Alexei Navalny/ Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK)

Branko Miletic

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