The “mistress” at the center of the story about the German supermarket billionaire who disappeared on the Matterhorn runs a company that organizes James Bond-style trips in Russia.
Reports have suggested that Karl-Erivan Haub faked his death six years ago while hiking alone on the iconic Swiss peak and then traveled incognito to Moscow to be with his secret Russian lover.
Authorities launched a six-day search in which five helicopters and teams of alpine rescuers scoured the area after he disappeared in April 2018, but his body was never found.
When he disappeared, he was 58 years old and left behind a wife, two children and a company of some 75,000 employees as the former CEO and co-owner of the German supermarket and retail giant Tengelmann Group.
He was pronounced dead, but reports suggest he is “living with his lover” Veronika Ermilova, 44, in Moscow.
In comments published by the Russian news agency Regnum, Ermilova stated that the claims that she was Haub’s secret lover “are from people who grew up with James Bond movies and wanted some kind of crazy Russian story.”
‘They came up with a sort of spy action movie. “They probably grew up watching these movies,” he stated.
Ironically, his company, called Russian Event, offers super-rich tourists exactly one “crazy Russian story” with a James Bond theme.
They offer the opportunity to come to Russia to “find your inner 007 with your own James Bond rally, with your own Bond Girls, villains and a mission to take on as you navigate the streets of our cities.”
No price is quoted for this tailor-made tour.
Haub is alleged to have dialed the phone of mysterious Russian woman Veronika Ermilova, suspected of being a Russian agent, 13 times in the three days before her disappearance.
Ermilova ran a “discreet” events agency in St. Petersburg with hobbies such as 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 riding up the mountain in a lift alone one morning – something his coach said was strange for a man who was normally very safety-conscious and well-prepared – and never returned to his hotel.
Veronika Ermilova, 44 years old, is twenty years younger than Haub
An investigation found that Ermilova ran a “discreet” events agency that organized skiing, hiking and climbing tours for outdoor lovers. She is now listed on LinkedIn as the director of marketing for 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 leaving for her infamous Matterhorn ski tour.
The couple are believed to have held secret meetings at various locations in the years before their disappearance.
There were also allegations of possible shady deals, potentially linked to the Russian state.
One of Haub’s Russian business partners included the notorious self-confessed fraudster Sergey Grishin, known as the “Scarface Oligarch.”
Grishin made headlines in the UK and US after selling his $14.7 million home in Montecito, California to none other than Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2020.
Following an investigation by German outlet RTL, pro-Kremlin media outlets in Russia said Ermilova admits she knew the German tycoon and that they had a business relationship.
But she says she hasn’t heard from him since she hiked the Matterhorn.
“No, I’m married, no one ran to me,” she said, according to REN TV.
“I only had a working relationship with him,” he said, according to the Zvezda media.
“I don’t live with a German billionaire in Moscow, this is false.”
Russian state media RT quoted Ermilova as saying: “There is no billionaire in my circle, I am married and have a child.”
She stated: ‘The company owned by this person [Haub]They were our clients.
‘In 2018 we learned that he disappeared in the mountains. And someone in Germany tries to say that he was found in Moscow…
‘This has not been confirmed at all. He was officially declared dead in Germany.
He also denied receiving 13 calls from Haub before his disappearance.
Haub called Ermilova 13 times before her disappearance, raising suspicions that she was planning to fake her death with help from Moscow.
Veronika Ermilova pictured at the Pacman bar, St. Petersburg, in 2016
Haub was officially declared dead in 2021 with a net worth of £5.2 billion, even though his body was missing.
German-American tycoon Karl-Erivan Haub was training for a ski mountaineering race when he disappeared in April 2018 in Zermatt, Switzerland.
Ermilova said Haub was a client of the St. Petersburg events agency where she worked.
Ermilova later denied being an FSB agent or a spy, insisting that she had nothing more than a working relationship with Karl-Erivan Haub.
“I don’t live with a billionaire, it’s all an unverified fake,” he said.
‘I worked in a company, their company was our client. So we met through business relationships. I worked in an event agency in St. Petersburg.
‘I came here quite frequently, they also had a big business here, that is, we provided various services that they commissioned us to do.
‘In 2018, when it happened, we found out that he had died on the mountain.
“And now I read that this is an incomprehensible investigation by some channel that decided that he had escaped from me in Moscow,” he said.
‘I’m married, no one escaped me. I am not an FSB agent, I am not a spy.