Misplaced Pages

#108891

104-601: The Villa La Leopolda is a large detached villa in Villefranche-sur-Mer , in the Alpes-Maritimes department on the French Riviera . The villa is situated in 7.3 hectares (18 acres) of grounds. The villa has had several notable owners including Gianni and Marella Agnelli , Izaak and Dorothy J. Killam , and, since 1987, by Edmond (1932–1999) and Lily Safra (1934–2022), who inherited

208-701: A particle physicist . Bill Browder's son Joshua is the founder of DoNotPay , a startup that helps to automate certain legal services. Browder started his career in the Eastern European practice of the Boston Consulting Group in London, then worked for Robert Maxwell's Maxwell Communication Corporation , and after that managed the Russian proprietary investments desk at Salomon Brothers . In 1999, Browder received naturalisation as

312-625: A "transnational criminal group" and claimed he may have poisoned Sergei Magnitsky. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in May 2022, Browder criticised Germany for its earlier Russia course: " Putin is 95 percent to blame for this war, because he is the one who throws the bombs and murders civilians" but "the West is also responsible for five percent and especially Germany to blame for what

416-470: A British citizen. Meanwhile, he had relinquished his U.S. citizenship in 1998. He cited that he did so because of "a legacy of bad feeling about the rule of law" as a result of his family having been "viciously persecuted" by U.S. authorities in the 1950s, citing especially his communist grandfather, Earl Browder who was imprisoned twice during the era of McCarthyism . Browder and Edmond Safra (1932–1999) founded Hermitage Capital Management in 1996 for

520-527: A Ph.D. from Princeton. But during the McCarthy era , he could not find work because he was the son of the onetime head of the Communist Party USA. After a series of job rejections in the 1950s, he was championed by Eleanor Roosevelt , the former First Lady who was then chairman of the board of Brandeis University ; she overrode the rest of the board who were afraid to hire him, and he gained

624-407: A RICO lawsuit against Browder and other Avisma investors including Kenneth Dart , alleging they illegally siphoned company assets into offshore accounts and then transferred the funds to U.S. accounts at Barclays . Browder and his co-defendants settled with Avisma in 2000; they sold their Avisma shares as part of the confidential settlement agreement. From 1995 to 2006, Hermitage Capital Management

728-553: A change in the FARA enforcement regime in the future. In February 2015, Browder published a book about his career, Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice , focusing on his years spent in Russia and the Russian government's attacks on Hermitage Capital Management. Browder's responses to Russian corruption and his support of the investigation into the death of his attorney Sergei Magnitsky are at

832-587: A chartered town. Later evolution has made the Hispanic distinction between villas and ciudades a purely honorific one. Madrid is the Villa y Corte , the villa considered to be separate from the formerly mobile royal court , but the much smaller Ciudad Real was declared ciudad by the Spanish crown. In 14th and 15th century Italy, a villa once more connoted a country house, like the first Medici villas ,

936-751: A few of the notable early architects were Wallace Neff , Addison Mizner , Stanford White , and George Washington Smith . A few examples are the Harold Lloyd Estate in Beverly Hills, California , Medici scale Hearst Castle on the Central Coast of California , and Villa Montalvo in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Saratoga, California , Villa Vizcaya in Coconut Grove, Miami , American Craftsman versions are

1040-594: A fraudulent $ 230 million (~$ 326 million in 2023) tax refund, awarded on 24 December 2007. After Magnitsky's death, Browder lobbied for Congress to pass the Magnitsky Act , a law to punish Russian human rights violators, which was signed into law in 2012 by President Barack Obama . In 2013, both Magnitsky and Browder were tried in absentia in Russia for tax fraud. Both men—Magnitsky had died four years prior—were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. Interpol rejected Russian requests to arrest Browder, saying

1144-493: A high-status power centre with its baths and gardens. The grand villa at Woodchester preserved its mosaic floors when the Anglo-Saxon parish church was built (not by chance) upon its site. Grave-diggers preparing for burials in the churchyard as late as the 18th century had to punch through the intact mosaic floors. The even more palatial villa rustica at Fishbourne near Winchester was built (uncharacteristically) as

SECTION 10

#1732772113109

1248-695: A humanized agricultural landscape , at that time the only desirable aspect of nature . Later villas and gardens include the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens in Florence, and the Villa di Pratolino in Vaglia . Rome had more than its share of villas with easy reach of the small sixteenth-century city: the progenitor, the first villa suburbana built since Antiquity, was the Belvedere or palazzetto , designed by Antonio del Pollaiuolo and built on

1352-721: A large open rectangle, with porticos enclosing gardens entered through a portico. Towards the end of the 3rd century, Roman towns in Britain ceased to expand: like patricians near the centre of the empire, Roman Britons withdrew from the cities to their villas, which entered on a palatial building phase, a "golden age" of villa life. Villae rusticae are essential in the Empire's economy. Two kinds of villa-plan in Roman Britain may be characteristic of Roman villas in general. The more usual plan extended wings of rooms all opening onto

1456-458: A libel court case in London and a trial in absentia for tax evasion in Moscow. In June 2018, HSBC reached a settlement with the Russian government to pay a £17 million fine to Russian authorities for its part in alleged tax avoidance. In 2005, after ten years of business deals in Russia, Browder was blacklisted by the Russian government as a "threat to national security" and denied entry to

1560-575: A light on individuals whose wealth is built on wrongdoing, so that they are denied safe havens anywhere in the world." In June 2019, Browder was presented with the American Spirit Award for Citizen Activism at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards. The committee noted Browder's "relentless fight against human rights abuses, corruption, and his work spearheading the Magnitsky Act." In September 2019, Browder received

1664-421: A linking portico, which might be extended at right angles, even to enclose a courtyard . The other kind featured an aisled central hall like a basilica , suggesting the villa owner's magisterial role. The villa buildings were often independent structures linked by their enclosed courtyards. Timber-framed construction, carefully fitted with mortises and tenons and dowelled together, set on stone footings, were

1768-436: A long entrance hall. In South Korea, the term "villa" refers to small multi-household house with 4 floors or less . In Cambodia, "villa" is used as a loanword in the local language of Khmer, and is generally used to describe any type of detached townhouse that features yard space. The term does not apply to any particular architectural style or size, the only features that distinguish a Khmer villa from another building are

1872-584: A penthouse apartment in Monaco . The Russian billionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov made several attempts via Ignace Meuwissen to buy the Villa Leopolda from Safra before she finally accepted his offer for € 370 million (plus €19.5 million for the villa's furniture) in the summer of 2008. Initial reports on the villa's sale in July 2008 had falsely identified fellow Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich as

1976-540: A position at Brandeis. Felix went on to chair the mathematics department at the University of Chicago , and in 1999 became the president of the American Mathematical Society . Felix Browder was renowned in the field of nonlinear functional analysis —a branch of mathematics with wide applications to such fields as physics , engineering , and finance . He was instrumental in establishing

2080-419: A prominent activist shareholder in the Russian gas giant Gazprom , the large oil company Surgutneftegas , RAO UES , Sberbank , Sidanco , Avisma , and Volzhanka. Browder exposed management corruption and corporate malfeasance in these partly state-owned companies. He has been quoted as saying: "You had to become a shareholder activist if you didn't want everything stolen from you". In 1999, Avisma filed

2184-544: A real estate holding company belonging to Russian businessman Denis Katsyv , based on information from Browder. Prevezon and the Department of Justice settled the case in May 2017 for $ 5.9 million (~$ 7.21 million in 2023). Pursuant to a subpoena , Browder gave deposition testimony in the case. Browder has been the recipient of dozens of awards and recognitions. Some of the most significant are listed below. In 2017, GQ magazine named Browder one of its Men of

SECTION 20

#1732772113109

2288-548: A science and technology center in conjunction with Princeton University and Bell Labs . In 1999, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Bill Clinton , for his "key role in the explosive growth of nonlinear functional analysis and its applications to partial differential equations in recent years". Bill Browder has one sibling, Tom Browder, who entered the University of Chicago at 15, and became

2392-462: A villa; most survivals have now been engulfed by suburbia . In modern parlance, "villa" can refer to various types and sizes of residences, ranging from the suburban semi-detached double villa to, in some countries, especially around the Mediterranean , residences of above average size in the countryside. Roman villas included: In terms of design, there was often little difference in

2496-632: Is also used in Pakistan, and in some of the Caribbean islands such as Jamaica , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , Guadeloupe , British Virgin Islands , and others. It is similar for the coastal resort areas of Baja California Sur and mainland Mexico, and for hospitality industry destination resort "luxury bungalows " in various locations worldwide. In Indonesia, the term "villa" is applied to Dutch colonial country houses ( landhuis ). Nowadays,

2600-572: Is an American-born British financier and political activist. He is the CEO and co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management , the investment advisor to the Hermitage Fund, which was formerly the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. The Hermitage Fund was founded in partnership with Republic National Bank , with $ 25 million in seed capital. The fund, and associated accounts, eventually grew to $ 4.5 billion of assets under management. In 1997,

2704-520: Is happening in Ukraine," Browder told the media. " Merkel fought hard to make Germany and Europe dependent on Moscow and open to blackmail. Putin's attack on Ukraine is therefore also Merkel's war!", said Browder. Browder has also strongly criticized Switzerland and the role played by Swiss banks in allegedly aiding the financing of Russia's invasion. Browder called on Switzerland to adopt its own sanctions against Russia and not just those proposed by

2808-552: Is now the city museum of Helsinki, Finland . During the 19th and 20th century, the term "villa" became widespread for detached mansions in Europe. Special forms are for instance spa villas ( Kurvillen in German) and seaside villas ( Bädervillen in German), that became especially popular at the end of the 19th century. The tradition established back then continued throughout the 20th century and even until today. Another trend

2912-557: Is still harbouring funds from sanctioned individuals without freezing them are unfounded". The Swiss government has explained it sees no reason to sanction Russians that the EU would not sanction, accounting for the disconnect in how much Russian money is estimated to be in Switzerland banks, and how much has been blocked to date. On 27 July 2017, Browder testified to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Russia's alleged interference in

3016-823: The Château de Ferrières is an example of the Italian Neo-Renaissance style villa – and in Britain the Mentmore Towers . A representative building of this style in Germany is Villa Haas (designed by Ludwig Hofmann) in Hesse . Villa Hakasalmi in Helsinki (built in 1834–46) represents Empire-era villa architecture. It was the home of Aurora Karamzin (1808–1902) at the end of the 19th century and

3120-631: The Farnese . Near Siena in Tuscany, the Villa Cetinale was built by Cardinal Flavio Chigi . He employed Carlo Fontana , pupil of Gian Lorenzo Bernini to transform the villa and dramatic gardens in a Roman Baroque style by 1680. The Villa Lante garden is one of the most sublime creations of the Italian villa in the landscape, completed in the 17th century. In the later 16th century in

3224-518: The Franks . Kintzheim was Villa Regis , the "villa of the king". Around 590, Saint Eligius was born in a highly placed Gallo-Roman family at the 'villa' of Chaptelat near Limoges , in Aquitaine (now France). The abbey at Stavelot was founded ca 650 on the domain of a former villa near Liège and the abbey of Vézelay had a similar founding. As Europe's influence spread to other cultures,

Villa Leopolda - Misplaced Pages Continue

3328-666: The Gamble House and the villas by Greene and Greene in Pasadena, California Modern architecture has produced some important examples of buildings known as villas: Country-villa examples: Today, the term "villa" is often applied to vacation rental properties. In the United Kingdom the term is used for high quality detached homes in warm destinations, particularly Florida and the Mediterranean. The term

3432-1252: The Liebermann Villa and Britz House in Berlin, Albrechtsberg , Eckberg, Villa Stockhausen and Villa San Remo  [ de ] in Dresden , Villa Waldberta in Feldafing , Villa Kennedy  [ de ] in Frankfurt , Jenisch House and Budge-Palais in Hamburg , Villa Andreae  [ de ] and Villa Rothschild  [ de ; ar ; fr ] in Königstein , Villa Stuck and Pacelli-Palais  [ de ] in Munich , Schloss Klink at Lake Müritz , Villa Ludwigshöhe in Rhineland-Palatinate , Villa Haux in Stuttgart and Weinberg House in Waren . In France

3536-579: The Neo-Palladian a part of the late 17th century and on Renaissance Revival architecture period. In the early 18th century the English took up the term, and applied it to compact houses in the country, especially those accessible from London: Chiswick House is an example of such a "party villa". Thanks to the revival of interest in Palladio and Inigo Jones , soon Neo-Palladian villas dotted

3640-718: The Queen Anne style Victorian architecture and Beaux-Arts architecture . Communities such as Montecito , Pasadena , Bel Air , Beverly Hills , and San Marino in Southern California, and Atherton and Piedmont in the San Francisco Bay Area are a few examples of villa density. The popularity of Mediterranean Revival architecture in its various iterations over the last century has been consistently used in that region and in Florida . Just

3744-640: The Roman Republic , villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity , sometimes transferred to the Church for reuse as a monastery . Then they gradually re-evolved through the Middle Ages into elegant upper-class country homes. In the early modern period , any comfortable detached house with a garden near a city or town was likely to be described as

3848-654: The Villa Giulia of Pope Julius III (1550), designed by Vignola . The Roman villas Villa Ludovisi and Villa Montalto, were destroyed during the late nineteenth century in the wake of the real estate bubble that took place in Rome after the seat of government of a united Italy was established at Rome. The cool hills of Frascati gained the Villa Aldobrandini (1592); the Villa Falconieri and

3952-900: The Villa Godi , the Villa Forni Cerato , the Villa Capra "La Rotonda" , and Villa Foscari . The Villas are grouped into an association (Associazione Ville Venete) and offer touristic itineraries and accommodation possibilities. Soon after in Greenwich England, following his 1613–1615 Grand Tour , Inigo Jones designed and built the Queen's House between 1615 and 1617 in an early Palladian architecture style adaptation in another country. The Palladian villa style renewed its influence in different countries and eras and remained influential for over four hundred years, with

4056-424: The Villa Mondragone . The Villa d'Este near Tivoli is famous for the water play in its terraced gardens . The Villa Medici was on the edge of Rome, on the Pincian Hill , when it was built in 1540. Besides these designed for seasonal pleasure, usually located within easy distance of a city, other Italian villas were remade from a rocca or castello, as the family seat of power, such as Villa Caprarola for

4160-464: The Villa del Trebbio and that at Cafaggiolo , both strong fortified houses built in the 14th century in the Mugello region near Florence . In 1450, Giovanni de' Medici commenced on a hillside the Villa Medici in Fiesole , Tuscany , probably the first villa created under the instructions of Leon Battista Alberti , who theorized the features of the new idea of villa in his De re aedificatoria . These first examples of Renaissance villa predate

4264-431: The 2016 U.S. presidential election in regards to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and Fusion GPS . The latter is the opposition research firm based in Washington D.C. that commissioned former MI6 staffer Christopher Steele to collect information on Donald Trump 's ties with Russia. The hearing was set up to examine the firm's separate work on a legal case involving the Magnitsky Act. He directly discussed

Villa Leopolda - Misplaced Pages Continue

4368-496: The Americas from Spain and Portugal, by the Spanish Colonial Revival style with regional variations. In the 20th century International Style villas were designed by Roberto Burle Marx , Oscar Niemeyer , Luis Barragán , and other architects developing a unique Euro-Latin synthesized aesthetic. Villas are particularly well represented in California and the West Coast of the United States, where they were originally commissioned by well travelled "upper-class" patrons moving on from

4472-418: The EU, as it had been doing. Browder cited a Swiss Bankers Association estimate stating that there were in excess of $ 200B of Russian money in Swiss accounts, while bemoaning the fact that Switzerland had sanctioned fewer than $ 10B worth of Russian deposits. Switzerland's Department for Foreign Affairs rejected the accusations, stating that "claims that Switzerland is doing less than other countries and that it

4576-443: The Hermitage Fund was the best-performing fund in the world, up by 238%. Browder's primary investment strategy was shareholder rights activism. Browder took on large Russian companies such as Gazprom , Surgutneftegaz , Unified Energy Systems , and Sidanco . In retaliation, on 13 November 2005, Browder was refused entry to Russia, deported to the UK, and declared a threat to Russian national security. Eighteen months after Browder

4680-446: The House of Codman is unable to do business with the House of Windsor ." Codman's extensive designs and construction gave the estate, once a series of unrelated buildings, its current appearance. His neo-Palladian vision, coupled with his in-depth knowledge of historical precedent, resulted in the construction of a spectacular villa with extensive gardens and landscaping. Floor plans, letters, records, and stereo glass-plate views of

4784-416: The Magnitsky case; the first time in the parliament's history that a vote was held to establish a public sanctions list. However, the vote was only advisory to the European Commission, which did not act on it. In December 2017, Browder was tried in absentia and convicted of tax evasion and deliberate bankruptcy by a Russian court, receiving a sentence of nine years of imprisonment. On 30 May 2018, Browder

4888-523: The Magnitsky family, ruled that Magnitsky was detained in conditions which amounted to " inhuman and degrading treatment in breach of Article 3 of the Convention" (§ 193). This, combined with negligence, lack of adequate medical care, and ill-treatment also amounted to a breach of the convention (§ 240). Magnitsky's family was awarded €34,000. As a result of the controversy related to his arrest and evidence of mistreatment and claimed abuse, his death aroused international coverage and outrage. Magnitsky's death

4992-486: The Moscow offices of Hermitage and its law firm, confiscating documents and computers. When a member of the firm protested that the search was illegal, he was beaten by officers and hospitalized for two weeks, said the firm's head, Jamison R. Firestone ." Hermitage became "victim of what is known in Russia as 'corporate raiding': seizing companies and other assets with the aid of corrupt law enforcement officials and judges". Three Hermitage holding companies were seized on what

5096-432: The People's Choice Webby Award for Best Individual Podcast. In 2018, Browder received the Aspen Institute Henry Crown Leadership Award, a prize honouring "an outstanding leader whose achievements reflect the high standards of honor, integrity, industry, and philanthropy." In October 2018, Browder received the Coalition for Integrity's Integrity Award for "his courageous fight to expose state-sponsored corruption and shine

5200-424: The President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Browder testified that President Putin is "the biggest oligarch in Russia and the richest man in the world", building a fortune by threatening Russian oligarchs and getting a 50% cut of their profits: I estimate that he has accumulated $ 200 billion of ill-gotten gains from these types of operations over his 17 years in power. He keeps his money in the West and all of his money in

5304-409: The Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The villa was used as the location of Lermontov's villa in 1948 film The Red Shoes . The heroine climbs the steps to the villa thinking that she's been invited to dinner. Instead she would be given the starring role in the new ballet. Alfred Hitchcock used La Leopolda as a set in his 1955 movie To Catch a Thief . There's a different reference saying that

SECTION 50

#1732772113109

5408-401: The UK with his quartet. The party was described by author John Fairchild as the "ultimate in conspicuous consumption". The banker Bill Browder recounted visiting Safra at the Villa Leopolda with Beny Steinmetz in his 2014 memoir Red Notice . Security was provided for Safra at the villa by a team of former Israeli commando soldiers. The Safras lived some 10 miles from the Villa Leopolda, in

5512-408: The Villa Leopolda back to Dorothy J. Killam in 1963, and she resided at the villa until her death in 1965. In 1987 La Leopolda had become one of the properties owned by the Lebanese born Brazilian banker Edmond Safra and his wife, Lily . The Safras commissioned Renzo Mongiardino as interior designer, while the second-floor bedrooms were decorated by Mica Ertegün . The Safras held large parties at

5616-552: The West is potentially exposed to asset freezes and confiscation. Therefore, he has a significant and very personal interest in finding a way to get rid of the Magnitsky sanctions. Browder concluded his statement by reviewing the circumstances that led to U.S. passage of the Magnitsky Act: I hope that my story will help you understand the methods of Russian operatives in Washington and how they use U.S. enablers to achieve major foreign policy goals without disclosing those interests. I also hope that this story and others like it may lead to

5720-403: The Year for standing up to Vladimir Putin. In 2018, Browder was named the 67th most powerful person in the world by Worth magazine. The magazine noted, "Browder has become one of the biggest thorns in Putin's side—and appears to be a key reason Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election." Browder's interview with Preet Bharara on the Stay Tuned with Preet podcast received

5824-410: The age of Lorenzo de' Medici , who added the Villa di Poggio a Caiano by Giuliano da Sangallo , begun in 1470, in Poggio a Caiano , Province of Prato , Tuscany . From Tuscany the idea of villa was spread again through Renaissance Italy and Europe. The Quattrocento villa gardens were treated as a fundamental and aesthetic link between a residential building and the outdoors, with views over

5928-401: The case was political. In 2014, the European Parliament voted for sanctions against 30 Russians believed complicit in the Magnitsky case; this was the first time it had taken such action. On 21 October 2017, the Russian government attempted to place Browder on Interpol 's arrest list of criminal fugitives, the fifth such request, which Interpol eventually rejected on 26 October 2017. After

6032-435: The company's lawyers insist were bogus charges. The raids in June 2007 enabled corrupt law enforcement officers to steal the corporate registration documents of three Hermitage holding companies. They perpetrated a fraud, claiming (and receiving) a rebate of $ 230 million (~$ 335 million in 2023) in taxes paid by those companies to the Russian state in 2006. In November 2008, one of Hermitage's auditors, Sergei Magnitsky ,

6136-580: The country. The Economist wrote that the Russian government blacklisted Browder because he interfered with the flow of money to "corrupt bureaucrats and their businessmen accomplices". Browder had earlier supported Russian president Vladimir Putin . As reported in 2008 by The New York Times , "over the next two years (according to Browder) several of his associates and lawyers, as well as their relatives, became victims of crimes, including severe beatings and robberies during which documents were taken". In June 2007, dozens of police officers "swooped down on

6240-423: The eighth century, Gallo-Roman villas in the Merovingian royal fisc were repeatedly donated as sites for monasteries under royal patronage in Gaul – Saint-Maur-des-Fossés and Fleury Abbey provide examples. In Germany a famous example is Echternach ; as late as 698, Willibrord established an abbey at a Roman villa of Echternach near Trier , presented to him by Irmina , daughter of Dagobert II , king of

6344-410: The fifth century, but the concept of an isolated, self-sufficient agrarian working community, housed close together, survived into Anglo-Saxon culture as the vill , with its inhabitants – if formally bound to the land – as villeins . In regions on the Continent, aristocrats and territorial magnates donated large working villas and overgrown abandoned ones to individual monks ; these might become

SECTION 60

#1732772113109

6448-477: The financial sector. Browder's paternal grandfather Earl Browder was born in Kansas in 1891. He was a radical and had lived in the Soviet Union for several years from 1927 and married Raisa Berkman, a Jewish Russian woman while living there. After his return to the United States in 1931, Earl Browder became the leader of the Communist Party USA from 1930 to 1945 and ran for U.S. president in 1936 and 1940. After World War II, Browder lost favour with Moscow and

6552-401: The form, and use of the villa would also spread as well. In post-Roman times a villa referred to a self-sufficient, usually fortified Italian or Gallo-Roman farmstead. It was economically as self-sufficient as a village and its inhabitants, who might be legally tied to it as serfs were villeins . The Merovingian Franks inherited the concept, followed by the Carolingian French but

6656-409: The heart of the book. A film adaptation written by William Nicholson was reportedly in the works in 2015. A new book by Browder was published on 12 April 2022: Freezing Order: A True Story of Money Laundering, Murder and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath . In 2013, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New York's Southern District filed a civil asset forfeiture case against Prevezon Holdings Limited,

6760-407: The house used in the To Catch a Thief is Château de la Croix-des-Gardes, 145 Boulevard Leader, not Villa Leopolda. " Villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that originally provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa , the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of

6864-437: The initial request, Browder's visa waiver for the United States was automatically suspended. After a bipartisan protest by U.S. Congressional leaders, his visa waiver was restored the following day. While visiting Spain in May 2018, Browder was arrested by Spanish authorities on a new Russian Interpol warrant and transferred to an undisclosed Spanish police station. He was released two hours later, after Interpol confirmed that it

6968-417: The later French term was basti or bastide. Villa / Vila (or its cognates) is part of many Spanish and Portuguese placenames, like Vila Real and Villadiego : a villa / vila is a town with a charter ( fuero or foral ) of lesser importance than a ciudad / cidade ("city"). When it is associated with a personal name, villa was probably used in the original sense of a country estate rather than

7072-406: The main residence between these types at any particular level of size, but the presence or absence of farm outbuildings reflected the size and function of the estate. Not included as villae were the domus , city houses for the élite and privileged classes, and the insulae , blocks of apartment buildings for the rest of the population. In Satyricon (1st century CE), Petronius described

7176-444: The newly completed property still exist in the collections of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (a.k.a. Historic New England) At Codman's death in 1951, the estate was sold to Izaak Walton Killam whose wife, Canadian philanthropist Dorothy J. Killam , inherited the place after his death. In the later 1950s she sold it to Fiat president Gianni Agnelli (1921–2003) and Marella Agnelli . The Agnellis sold

7280-408: The northeastern Italian Peninsula the Palladian villas of the Veneto , designed by Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), were built in Vicenza in the Republic of Venice . Palladio always designed his villas with reference to their setting. He often unified all the farm buildings into the architecture of his extended villas while focusing on symmetry and perfect proportion. Examples are the Villa Emo ,

7384-410: The nuclei of monasteries . In this way, the Italian villa system of late Antiquity survived into the early Medieval period in the form of monasteries that withstood the disruptions of the Gothic War (535–554) and the Lombards . About 529 Benedict of Nursia established his influential monastery of Monte Cassino in the ruins of a villa at Subiaco that had belonged to Nero . From the sixth to

7488-515: The purchaser. Prokhorov would later deny that he had bought the property, with his spokesperson saying that he had refused to do business in France after his 2007 detention by French police for allegedly providing prostitutes for guests at Courchevel , the ski resort in the French Alps . No charges were ever filed against Prokhorov in the prostitution case. Prokhorov attempted to withdraw from

7592-594: The purpose of investing initial seed capital of $ 25 million in Russia during the period of the mass privatisation after the fall of the Soviet Union . Beny Steinmetz was another of the original investors in Hermitage. Following the Russian financial crisis of 1998 , Browder remained committed to Hermitage's original mission of investing in Russia, despite significant outflows from the fund. Hermitage became

7696-433: The purpose of the raid. Magnitsky discovered that while those documents were in the custody of the police, they had been used to fraudulently re-register Hermitage's holding companies to the name of an ex-convict. Magnitsky was subsequently arrested by Russian authorities and died in prison. The reregistration of the Hermitage holding companies was an intermediate step before the perpetrators used those companies to apply for

7800-765: The rest of the Old South functioned as the Roman Latifundium villas had. A later revival, in the Gilded Age and early 20th century, produced The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island , Filoli in Woodside, California , and Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. ; by architects-landscape architects such as Richard Morris Hunt , Willis Polk , and Beatrix Farrand . In the nineteenth century,

7904-486: The rule, replaced by stone buildings for the important ceremonial rooms. Traces of window glass have been found, as well as ironwork window grilles . With the decline and collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries, the villas were more and more isolated and came to be protected by walls. In England the villas were abandoned, looted , and burned by Anglo-Saxon invaders in

8008-548: The sale in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis , which led to a lawsuit between Prokhorov and Safra over the €39 million deposit that he had paid on the villa. A French court ruled against Prokhorov in November 2012 with Safra subsequently announcing that she would donate his deposit to various global charities. La Leopolda invokes the style of the Belle Époque . It is listed in the general inventory of architectural heritage of

8112-716: The self-sufficiency of their latifundium villas, where they drank their own wine and pressed their own oil . This was an affectation of urban aristocrats playing at being old-fashioned virtuous Roman farmers, it has been said that the economic independence of later rural villas was a symptom of the increasing economic fragmentation of the Roman Empire . Archaeologists have meticulously examined numerous Roman villas in England . Like their Italian counterparts, they were complete working agrarian societies of fields and vineyards , perhaps even tileworks or quarries , ranged round

8216-661: The slope above the Vatican Palace . The Villa Madama , the design of which, attributed to Raphael and carried out by Giulio Romano in 1520, was one of the most influential private houses ever built; elements derived from Villa Madama appeared in villas through the 19th century. Villa Albani was built near the Porta Salaria. Other are the Villa Borghese ; the Villa Doria Pamphili (1650);

8320-602: The term villa was extended to describe any large suburban house that was free-standing in a landscaped plot of ground. By the time 'semi-detached villas' were being erected at the turn of the twentieth century, the term collapsed under its extension and overuse. The second half of the nineteenth century saw the creation of large "Villenkolonien" in the German speaking countries, wealthy residential areas that were completely made up of large mansion houses and often built to an artfully created masterplan. Also many large mansions for

8424-546: The term is more popularly applied to vacation rental usually located in countryside area. In Australia, "villas" or "villa units" are terms used to describe a type of townhouse complex which contains, possibly smaller attached or detached houses of up to 3–4 bedrooms that were built since the early 1980s. In New Zealand , "villa" refers almost exclusively to Victorian and Edwardian wooden weatherboard houses mainly built between 1880 and 1914, characterised by high ceilings (often 3.7 m or 12 ft), sash windows , and

8528-491: The trial as "a whole new chapter in Russia's worsening human rights record" and a "sinister attempt to deflect attention from those who committed the crimes Magnitsky exposed". On 11 July 2013, Browder was convicted in absentia by a district criminal court in Moscow on charges under article 199 of the RF Criminal Code ( tax-evasion by organisations), and sentenced to nine years. Magnitsky, according to Browder,

8632-736: The valley of the River Thames and English countryside. Marble Hill House in England was conceived originally as a "villa" in the 18th-century sense. In many ways the late 18th century Monticello , by Thomas Jefferson in Virginia , United States is a Palladian Revival villa. Other examples of the period and style are Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Maryland ; and many pre- American Civil War or antebellum plantations , such as Westover Plantation and many other James River plantations as well dozens of Antebellum era plantations in

8736-494: The villa after her husband's death. Villa La Leopolda in its current incarnation was designed and built from 1929 to 1931 by the American architect, Ogden Codman, Jr. , on an estate once owned by King Leopold II of Belgium . Leopold had made the previous estate a present for his mistress Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix , also known as Caroline Lacroix, and it derives its name from him. After Leopold's death, Blanche Delacroix

8840-761: The villa, and, at a 1988 party, female guests were given an enameled box with a portrait of the Villa Leopolda. Safra's guest list was so vast that there was a party on the Saturday and a second party on the Monday. Tulips were airlifted in from Holland, the food was arranged by the famed chef Roger Vergé of the Moulin de Mougins , and the music was provided by Safra's favourite musicians, the Brazilian band leader Sérgio Mendes who had flown in from California with his entire orchestra, and pianist David Wood who had flown in from

8944-986: The wealthy German industrialists were built, such as Villa Hügel in Essen . The Villenkolonie of Lichterfelde West in Berlin was conceived after an extended trip by the architect through the South of England. Representative historicist mansions in Germany include the Heiligendamm and other resort architecture mansions at the Baltic Sea, Rose Island and King's House on Schachen in the Bavarian Alps , Villa Dessauer in Bamberg , Villa Wahnfried in Bayreuth , Drachenburg near Bonn , Hammerschmidt Villa in Bonn ,

9048-893: The wide range of Roman dwellings. Another type of villae is the "villa maritima", a seaside villa, located on the coast. A concentration of Imperial villas existed on the Gulf of Naples , on the Isle of Capri , at Monte Circeo and at Antium . Examples include the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum ; and the Villa of the Mysteries and Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii . There was an important villa maritima in Barcola near Trieste. This villa

9152-533: The yard space and being fully detached. The terms "twin-villa" and "mini-villa" have been coined meaning semi-detached and smaller versions respectively. Generally, these would be more luxurious and spacious houses than the more common row houses. The yard space would also typically feature some form of garden, trees or greenery. Generally, these would be properties in major cities, where there is more wealth and hence more luxurious houses. Bill Browder Sir William Felix Browder , KCMG (born 23 April 1964)

9256-637: Was a political case. William Felix Browder was born in Princeton, New Jersey , and he grew up in Chicago, Illinois . He is the son of mathematician Felix Browder , and the grandson of Earl Browder . He attended the University of Colorado, Boulder , before transferring to the University of Chicago , from which he graduated with a degree in economics . He earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1989 and entered

9360-463: Was an investment in the Russian economy, and the desire to influence the Gazprom management was driven by the need to expose a "huge fraud going on at the company". However, at the time it was illegal for foreigners to buy Gazprom shares in Russia, and he did it through shell companies that hid his ownership. He also said that the scheme of using Russian-registered subsidiaries entitled to tax advantages

9464-654: Was arrested by Spanish police in Madrid on a Russian Interpol arrest warrant. He was freed soon after when the General Secretary of Interpol warned the Spanish police not to follow the Russian arrest warrant. Browder had come to Spain to brief anti-mafia prosecutor José Grinda . After briefing him, Browder returned to the United Kingdom later that evening. In November 2018, Russian prosecutors announced new charges against Browder, accusing him of organising

9568-463: Was arrested. He was "charged with two counts of aggravated tax evasion committed in conspiracy with Mr. Browder in respect of Dalnyaya Step and Saturn" (ECHR § 35). Magnitsky died on 16 November 2009, in prison, after eleven months in pretrial detention, nearly the limit allowed under the law. On 27 August 2019, the European Court for Human Rights, in judging a case brought against Russia by

9672-515: Was built in the 19th century. Wealthy Romans also escaped the summer heat in the hills round Rome, especially around Tibur ( Tivoli and Frascati ), such as at Hadrian's Villa . Cicero allegedly possessed no fewer than seven villas, the oldest of which was near Arpinum , which he inherited. Pliny the Younger had three or four, of which the example near Laurentium is the best known from his descriptions. Roman writers refer with satisfaction to

9776-469: Was completed by 1931. However financial difficulties (and his lavish expenditures) precluded his being able to live in it, so he rented it out to various wealthy tenants. One famous English couple tried to lease it but insisted on making changes that were contrary to Codman's aesthetic objectives and strict list of protective clauses. Negotiations in a Paris Hotel room broke down over the many restrictions Codman imposed, and Ogden's response was: "I regret that

9880-424: Was deported, on 4 June 2007, Hermitage Capital's offices in Moscow were raided by twenty-five officers of Russia's Interior Ministry. Twenty-five more officers raided the Moscow office of Browder's American law firm, Firestone Duncan, seizing the corporate registration documents for Hermitage's investment holding companies. Browder assigned Sergei Magnitsky , head of the tax practice at Firestone Duncan, to investigate

9984-403: Was evicted, and his nephew, King Albert I , became its owner. During World War I , it was used as a military hospital . In 1919, Thérèse Vitali , Comtesse de Beauchamp, acquired the property and commissioned modifications. Ogden Codman, Jr. purchased the dozen existing structures that made up the property (which included two peasant cottages) and began his architectural magnum opus in 1929. It

10088-418: Was expelled from the U.S. Communist Party. Earl and his wife Raisa had three children, all sons, and all three became mathematicians who headed the mathematics departments of top American universities, including Bill Browder's father Felix Browder , who married Eva (Tislowitz). Felix was a mathematics prodigy who had entered MIT at 16, acquired his bachelor's degree in two years, and by the age of 20 received

10192-521: Was located directly on the coast and was divided into terraces in a representation area in which luxury and power was displayed, a separate living area, a garden, some facilities open to the sea and a thermal bath. Not far from this noble place, which was already popular with the Romans because of its favorable microclimate, one of the most important Villa Maritima of its time, the Miramare Castle ,

10296-408: Was one of the largest foreign investors in Russia, and Browder amassed millions through his management of the fund. In both 2006 and 2007, he earned an estimated £125–150 million. In March 2013, HSBC , a bank that serves as the trustee and manager of Hermitage Capital Management, announced that it would end the fund's operations in Russia. The decision was taken amid two legal cases against Browder:

10400-470: Was posthumously convicted of fraud. In May 2013 and again in July 2013, Interpol rejected requests by Russia's Interior Ministry to put Browder on its search list and locate and arrest him, saying that Russia's case against him was "predominantly political". In April 2014, the European Parliament unanimously passed a resolution to impose sanctions on more than 30 Russians complicit in

10504-560: Was practised by other foreign investors at the time and was not illegal. He also said that he believed the trial was a response to the United States passing the Magnitsky Act , which had blacklisted Russian officials involved in Magnitsky's death, preventing them from entering the U.S. The Financial Times reported that this trial was the first in Russian history that included a dead defendant. Amnesty International described

10608-647: Was the catalyst for passage by the U.S. Congress, of the Magnitsky Act , signed into law by President Barack Obama on 14 December 2012. The act directly targeted individuals involved in the Magnitsky affair by prohibiting their entrance to the United States and their use of its banking system. In February 2013, Russian officials announced that Browder and Magnitsky would both be tried for evading $ 16.8 million (~$ 21.7 million in 2023) in taxes. In March 2013, Russian authorities announced that they would be investigating Hermitage's acquisition of Gazprom shares worth $ 70 million (~$ 90.3 million in 2023). The investigation

10712-579: Was the erection of rather minimalist mansions in the Bauhaus style since the 1920s, that also continues until today. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden "villa" denotes most forms of single-family detached homes , regardless of size and standard. The villa concept lived and lives on in the haciendas of Latin America and the estancias of Brazil and Argentina. The oldest are original Portuguese and Spanish Colonial architecture ; followed after independences in

10816-638: Was to focus on whether Browder violated any Russian laws when Hermitage used Russian companies registered in the region of Kalmykia to buy shares. An investigation by the Council of Europe's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights cleared Browder of the accusations of improprieties that surfaced at this time. Browder was also charged with trying to gain access to Gazprom 's financial reports. Browder admitted having sought influence in Gazprom , but denied any wrongdoing. He said that purchasing Gazprom shares

#108891