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The AML legal case against a Russian businessman whose business sponsored Liverpool FC was won by Merseyside Police in the United Kingdom.
The force's Economic Crime Unit opened Operation Kobus, a case involving Ildar Sharipov, in August 2017.
Officers from Merseyside Police froze £1.6 million (€1.9 million) of Mr Sharipov's assets in April 2018, but the businessman has since received the remainder.
According to The Liverpool Echo, Grizzio Ltd is linked to Mr Sharipov through a small company called Kobus, which has been accused of fraud and money laundering.
The founder of Instaforex, which paid £2.5 million (€3 million) in sponsorship to Liverpool between 2014 and 2018, has not been arrested or charged with any crimes.
The suspect claims he was victimized by anti-Russian bias and police corruption, and has filed multiple legal challenges against the force and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
"The general prejudice against people having Russian names – albeit I did not spend in Russia even a day during last nine years," he said.
Nine of his most recent claims, each of which was filed as a Judicial Review application, were dismissed in court, with three of them being declared "totally without merit."
Mr Justice Jonathan Swift also issued a General Civil Restraint Order, barring Mr Sharipov from pursuing further legal action against Merseyside Police or the IOPC without permission.
"Applications for judicial review have then been deployed further to distract the attention and resources of either the IOPC or the Merseyside Police, or both," he wrote in his ruling.
" am not hiding away from this," Mr Sharipov said. I am spending a considerable sum of money in trying to clear my name."
"There have been many Judicial Reviews lodged by the subject of this case which has subsequently resulted in delays to the progression of the investigation," Deputy Chief Constable Ian Critchley said.
"Merseyside Police takes economic crime in all its forms seriously," he added.
By fLEXI tEAM