The Paris Prosecutor General's Office has announced a money laundering investigation involving Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH, which owns the famous fashion houses Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior.

The French daily newspaper Le Monde reported that authorities were specifically looking into his real estate dealings with Russian businessman Nikolai Sarkisov at the Courchevel ski resort. Prosecutors told Bloomberg that the investigation into Arnault, who is worth $212 billion, began last year.

According to Le Monde, Sarkisov bought multiple properties in Courchevel using intermediary companies. However, Arnault was the final buyer in these transactions and allegedly paid Sarkisov around 20 million euros to own these assets. Sarkisov allegedly made a profit of 2 million euros from these deals.

WHO IS BERBARD ARNAULT?

Born on March 5, 1949 in Roubaix, France, Bernard Arnault is also the son of businessman Jean Leon Arnault.

After studying engineering at Ecole Polytechnique University, one of the world-famous colleges, Arnault worked for his father's construction company Ferret-Savinel.

Afterwards, Arnault bought the luxury goods company Financiere Agache and acquired the famous textile company Boussac Saint- Freres. Arnault invested millions of dollars in the shares of MHV, became the first shareholder of the company and transformed LMHV into a world-famous company.

In addition to fashion, Arnault, who collected many luxury products such as drinks, cosmetics, watches and clothing in his company, was among the top 5 richest people in the world as of 2011.