French prosecutors are investigating possible money laundering deals between French billionaire Bernard Arnault and a Russian businessman.
The Paris prosecutor's office said on Friday that its investigation followed a warning from Tracfin, France's anti-money laundering unit, and that a preliminary investigation had been going on since 2022. The prosecutor's office declined to comment further.

Arnault is the CEO and controlling shareholder of luxury empire LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton and the world's second-richest person behind Elon Musk, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. A spokesman for LVMH didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The prosecutor's statement came after Le Monde newspaper reported that France's anti-money laundering agency had uncovered suspicious money transfers between Arnault and Russian businessman Nikolai Sarkisov. The deals relate to Arnault's acquisition of real estate in Courchevel, in the French Alps, in 2018. The deal allowed Sarkisov to make a profit of about 2 million euros without any apparent reason, the newspaper said, citing a Tracfin document.

Sarkisov, who made his fortune in insurance, couldn't immediately be reached for comment. After the preliminary investigation, French prosecutors can decide to open a formal investigation or drop the case.

Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of luxury goods group LVMH, had a net worth of $191 billion at the beginning of 2023, making him the new richest person in the world, surpassing Musk and Bezos. The Wall Street Journal's Nick Kostov explains how the French business mogul built LVMH into a $438 billion luxury giant with 75 brands, amassing a fortune along the way, and how he plans to keep it under his family's control.