April 5, 2022, 1:00 a.m. • 3 minutes reading Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Email this article A yacht belonging to Russian oligarch Victor Vekselberg was seized at Marina Real in the Spanish port of Palma de Mallorca, according to court documents unsealed on Monday. The yacht was confiscated on Monday by Spanish authorities and KleptoCapture, the Justice Ministry task force tasked with finding the assets of oligarchs trying to evade sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We will now seek to seize the ship as a product of crime,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a videotaped message released Monday by the Justice Department. A Vekselberg spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. The Political Guards escort US FBI agents and a U.S. Homeland Security agent from the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, April 4, 2022. Wexelberg was appointed oligarch by US authorities in 2018, when he was sanctioned by the United States after the Russian invasion of Crimea. Court documents state that Vekselberg was subject to more sanctions when Russia invaded Ukraine. In addition to seizing Vekselberg yachts, U.S. authorities also received unsealed seizure warrants in Washington, DC, on Monday, targeting about $ 625,000 in related sanctions held at nine U.S. financial institutions, the State Department said in a statement. . The KleptoCapture task force is trying to find yachts, planes and other movable property before being transferred to jurisdictions where it may be more difficult for US authorities to investigate. “The point of chasing Putin’s comrades and Russian oligarchs trying to break our laws and shield their assets is to say that no one is beyond the reach of our justice system, beyond “Our work and our cooperation with our allies,” Attorney General Lisa Monaco told ABC News’ Byron Pitt last month. “And that these idiots and oligarchs who seek to support and strengthen the Russian regime should not be able to escape it while the people are dying.”
