PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (Washington Insider Magazine) – On Monday, the US government confiscated a super yacht in Spain owned and controlled by an oligarch with strong links to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the first step in a sanctions drive to “seize and freeze” large boats and other valuable assets owned by Russian oligarchs.
The yacht was boarded by Spain’s Civil Guard and US federal authorities at the Marina Real in Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. On Monday morning, Associated Press reporters in the area witnessed police entering and exiting the boat.
According to the Civil Guard, the coordinated operation to take the boat, which included Spain’s Civil Guard, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI, was conducted at the request of US officials.
Tango, a 78-meter (254-foot) vessel that wears the Cook Islands flag, is valued at $120 million by Superyachtfan.com, a specialist website that records the world ‘s biggest and most luxurious recreational boats, according to a Civil Guard source. The source was likewise not allowed to be identified in media publications and talked to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
According to US Treasury Department documents, the yacht is one of the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a businessman and close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin who runs the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate covering mining, metals, technology, and other businesses. Vekselberg’s assets in the United States have been frozen, and American corporations are prohibited from doing dealings with him as well his enterprises.
Though Vekselberg has not really been sanctioned by the European Union, he is being investigated in the United States for alleged document falsification, money laundering, and tax fraud in order to conceal his ownership of the Tango boat, according to the Civil Guard.
According to ABC NEWS, this is the first time the US government has seized a russian oligarchs yacht since Secretary Of the treasury Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland formed the REPO task force — short for Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs — to enforce sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February.
Vekselberg has had links to the United States for a long time, including a green card and houses in Connecticut and New York. In the post-Soviet era, the Ukrainian-born billionaire made his wealth by dealing in the oil and aluminum sectors.
Vekselberg was also interviewed as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and he has collaborated with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who runs the New York investment management company Columbus Nova.
Renova Group was created by the 64-year-old tycoon more than 3 decades ago. Among other interests, the firm has the largest holding in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s largest aluminum producer.
The US sanctioned Vekselberg for the first time in 2018, and then again in March of this year, just after the attack in Ukraine began. Officials in the United Kingdom have also sanctioned Vekselberg.
According to the Civil Guard, the yacht cruises under the Cook Islands flag and is owned by a business registered in the British Virgin Islands that is governed by several organizations in Panama, following a complex sociological and financial network to disguise its true ownership.
Agents seized documents and laptops on board the boat, which will be reviewed to prove the owner’s true identity, according to the report.
