The warrant and subsequent raid targeted Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the US government in 2018 and again last month after Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine. Financial sanctions have prevented the billionaire from joining the US economy and prevented him from using US banks to conduct business. According to the Justice Department warrant, which dates back to 2011, Vekselberg and other anonymous conspirators tried to avoid detection in the US by paying for the yacht through shell companies and other money laundering techniques. “Wexelberg and those who acted on his behalf and for his benefit caused the US dollar to be sent to Tango through US financial institutions, following a period when Wexelberg had been appointed by the Treasury Department,” the statement said. Monday. The Civil Guards stand next to the yacht called Tango in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, April 4, 2022. US federal agents and the Spanish Civil Guard investigate the yacht belonging to a Russian oligarch. Francisco Ubilla / AP The Tango, designed and built exclusively for the oligarch, which has an estimated net worth of $ 6 billion, was shipped to Spain for repair. Investigators say the Spanish government subsequently notified the Ministry of Justice of its whereabouts on March 13. Prosecutors in Spain have been ordered to “freeze” the ship, paving the way for the FBI and other US law enforcement agents to seize the ship. Monday’s operation was part of the Justice Department’s new KleptoCapture Task Force, an interdepartmental law enforcement team tasked with holding Russian sanctions elites accountable as Russia continues its offensive in Ukraine. “Today marks the first seizure of assets by our task force belonging to a sanctioned person with close ties to the Russian regime. It will not be the last,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Monday. “Together with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts allow the Russian government to continue its unjust war.” ARCHIVE – In this archive photo taken on Tuesday, May 31, 2016, Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg attends the Russia’s Council on Foreign Affairs in Moscow, Russia. Pavel Golovkin / AP The Associated Press reports that the Ukrainian-born Wexelberg, 64, has long had ties to the United States, including a green card he once owned and lives in New York and Connecticut. He is the main owner of the Renova Group, a global heterogeneous group he founded 30 years ago, based in Moscow with significant assets in oil and mining. It owns a stake in Rusal, Russia’s largest aluminum producer, among other investments. Vekselberg and his cousin Andrew Intrater were investigated by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller after adult film star Stormy Daniels’s lawyer published a note claiming that $ 500,000 in tacit money was channeled through Columbus Nova, an investment firm run by from Intrater and is said to be affiliated with Renova. , to a shell company founded by former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, according to the Associated Press. Columbus Nova has denied that Vekselberg, Intrater’s largest investor, played a role in its payments to Cohen. Wexelberg and Intrater met with Cohen at the Trump Tower, one of many meetings between members of Trump’s inner circle and high-ranking Russians during the 2016 campaign and transition. More
