Khabib Nurmagomedov's accounts arrested

The Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation arrested accounts of UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov's accounts. The agency blocked the accounts of the athlete's charitable foundation, as well as the funds of his MMA league Eagle FC.

Photo: .kremlin.ru by Администрация Президента РФ, CC BY 4.0

The reason for the arrest was Nurmagomedov's debt of more than 300 million rubles.

After finishing his career as a mixed martial athlete, Khabib Nurmagomedov decided to try his hand at business. He opened several firms specialising in sports food and promotion (Eagle FC). Nurmagomedov also tried to run a chain of restaurants, a travel agency and even invested in a start-up in the UAE.

After the companies began to bring serious profits, Nurmagomedov suddenly withdrew from founders and put all the powers to manage the companies in the hands of his close relatives and friends. The athlete financed such companies as Sildi, First Mobile, and the Fund for the Development of Education, Sports and Social Initiatives before delivering them to third parties.

The Federal Tax Service initiated inspections of Khabib's businesses. During the inspections, several of Nurmagomedov's companies were closed. For example, his company Hikmet Travel was found to have unreliable information in its documents. The Federal Tax Service also found that the total amount of the athlete's debt amounted to more than 309 million rubles.

Khabib's uncle Magomed Nurmagomedov denied reports about his nephew's multi-million debt.

"There is no such thing at all. This is a fake," Magomed Nurmagomedov said.

Khabib's team also announced that the published information was not accurate.