A German billionaire who vanished under mysterious circumstances under Switzerland’s iconic Matterhorn peak six years ago is suspected to be living with a Russian mistress in Moscow, an investigation has claimed.
German-American retail tycoon Karl-Erivan Haub, then 58, was training for a ski mountaineering race when he disappeared in April 2018 in Zermatt, Switzerland.
The billionaire businessman was last seen heading up the mountain in a lift one morning alone – something his trainer said was strange for a man who was typically very safety conscious and well-prepared – and never returned to his hotel.
Authorities launched a six-day search which saw five helicopters and teams of alpine rescuers canvas the area, but his body was never found.
Haub – the former managing director and part owner of German supermarket and retail giant Tengelmann Group – was declared dead by a Cologne court three years later, leaving behind a wife, two children and a company of some 75,000 employees.
His younger brother Christian swore in a courtroom in 2021 there was no indication the Alpinist, whose net worth was estimated at £5.2 billion, remained alive.
But now a major investigation led by German broadcaster RTL claims to have identified Haub in Moscow – and believes the tycoon is there with a much younger mistress named Veronika Ermilova.
Christian meanwhile is now subject to an investigation by the Cologne prosecutor’s office on suspicion of making false statements under oath, RTL reported.
Christian assumed control of the Tengelmann Group after his brother’s disappearance, and claimed to have commissioned a security service to investigate the ‘rumours’ he was still alive.
His lawyer, Mark Binz, told German newspaper Die Zeit: ‘Of course there is nothing to the accusation.’
