German publisher halts sale of top author's books after leak reveals he received E600,000 from Putin ally
Source: The Guardian
German publisher halts sale of top author’s books after leak reveals he received €600,000 from Putin ally
Broadcaster NDR launches investigation after Hubert Seipel admits receiving support for work on two books on Russian leader
Kate Connolly
Thu 16 Nov 2023 11.55 GMT
First published on Wed 15 Nov 2023 14.31 GMT
A German publisher has announced a stop to the sale of books authored by a leading journalist and Russia expert after an investigation showed he had received at least €600,000 (£522,000) in undisclosed offshore payments from companies linked to an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin.
Hubert Seipel, an award-winning film-maker and author, admitted receiving support for his work on two books charting the Russian leader’s rise to power and offering portrayals described as sympathetic to him.
The information emerged from the Cyprus Confidential project, based on a cache of 3.6m offshore records leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Germany’s Paper Trail Media, which shared access with the Guardian and other reporting partners.
Seipel’s publisher Hoffmann und Campe, which is based in Hamburg, confirmed its decision to halt the sale of the books on Wednesday, after the leaking of offshore records that suggested companies linked to the oligarch Alexei Mordashov, a steel and banking magnate placed under sanctions last year for his close ties to the Kremlin, had made payments to the journalist to support the production of two books about the Russian president.
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Read more: https://archive.li/LLb9k
Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/15/german-publisher-authors-books-putin-ndr-hubert-seipel
