Russian 'mistress', 44, breaks her silence over claims she is living in Moscow ... trends now
The 'mistress' at the centre of the story about the German supermarket billionaire who vanished on the Matterhorn has broken her silence.
Reports have suggested Karl-Erivan Haub faked his death six years ago while hiking alone on the iconic Swiss peak, then went incognito to Moscow to be with his secret Russian mistress.
Authorities launched a six-day search which saw five helicopters and teams of alpine rescuers canvas the area following his disappearance in April 2018, but his body was never found.
Aged 58 when he disappeared, he left behind a wife, two children and a company of some 75,000 employees as former managing director and part owner of German supermarket and retail giant Tengelmann Group.
He was declared dead but reports have suggested he is 'living with his mistress' Veronika Ermilova, 44, in Moscow.
Haub is alleged to have dialled the phone of mysterious Russian woman Veronika Ermilova - suspected of being a Russian agent - 13 times in the three days before he vanished
Ermilova ran an 'inconspicuous' event agency in St Petersburg with hobbies like hiking, climbing and ski touring
German-American tycoon Karl-Erivan Haub, then 58, was training for a ski mountaineering race when he disappeared in April 2018
The billionaire businessman was 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
Veronika Ermilova, 44, is twenty years Haub's junior
An investigation found that Ermilova ran an 'inconspicuous' event agency which organised skiing, hiking and climbing excursions for outdoor enthusiasts. She is now listed on LinkedIn as a Marketing Director at Russian Event, which is styled as a travel experience company
Haub was reported to have made a succession of phone calls to the mysterious Ermilova shortly before he met.
And the pair are believed to have held secret meetings at various locations in the years before he vanished.
There were also claims of possible shady business deals involving the pair, potentially linked to the Russian state.
One of Haub's Russian business partners included notorious self-confessed fraudster Sergey Grishin - known as the 'Scarface Oligarch'.
Grishin made headlines in the UK and US after being selling his $14.7 million home in Montecito, California, to none other than Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2020.
Now following an investigation by German outlet RTL, the pro-Kremlin media
