The Spanish judiciary on Tuesday definitively closed a corruption investigation into Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman in connection with his low-cost takeover of a bankrupt Spanish technology company.
There is "no solid evidence of the offences" of which he was accused in the case, the Audiencia Nacional, the high court in charge of sensitive cases, said in a statement.
In addition, "a large part of the illicit enrichment attributed to him would have been committed abroad", rendering the Spanish courts incompetent, the statement added.
The 59-year-old Russian-Israeli billionaire Fridman, who now lives in London, made his fortune after the collapse of the USSR. He owns a business empire encompassing hydrocarbons, banking, telecoms and distribution.
He was under investigation in Spain for what the prosecution alleged was secret manoeuvring to economically suffocate the Spanish technology group Zed, in the hope of buying it at a low price.
His case had already been dismissed by the National Court in late 2020, but the public prosecutor's office appealed and the case was reopened the following year.
Fridman had also been the subject of an investigation into the terms of the takeover of the Día supermarket group in similar circumstances in 2021.
The billionaire is subject to European and British sanctions and his assets were frozen at the start of the war in Ukraine, even though he claimed to have no links with President Vladimir Putin's regime.
Last week Britain's High Court dismissed a legal challenge by Fridman who wanted funds to pay for his driver and the upkeep of his London mansion.