Matvienko's son, who is under sanctions in a number of countries, lives in Italy

According to the publication, Sergei Matvienko transferred most of his assets to San Marino.

Matvienko's son has an Italian tax number, but he does not conduct any economic activity in Italy.

He needs a tax number to maintain his resident status and have access to local banks.

According to investigators, Matvienko, with the help of a large group of lawyers and consultants, has built a formally legal but opaque system for preserving his assets.

This is facilitated by the traditional opacity of San Marino's banking system and the slow updating of local legislation.

The province of Pesaro and Urbino has become one of the centers of a network of shell companies, foundations, and individuals built by the Matvienko family to circumvent sanctions.

Matvienko's son is under sanctions imposed by the US, Japan, and Canada, and his mother, Valentina Matvienko, is on the sanctions lists of the European Union, the UK, Switzerland, the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Ukraine.

The villa where Sergei lives with his wife Yulia was purchased by Valentina Matvienko in 2009.

Ivan Scalfaro, a member of the Italian Senate (the upper house of parliament), responded to the Linkiesta publication. "Unacceptable. I will ask the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain how it is possible that one of Russia's highest political bodies can enjoy a kind of free zone, a kind of extraterritoriality in Italy," the senator wrote on social media.

Source: Ukrinform