The Spanish Civil Guard and US federal agents boarded a yacht at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police getting in and out of the boat Monday morning. The seizure was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter. People could not discuss the matter in public and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. A spokesman for the Spanish Civil Guard confirmed that Spanish police and FBI officers were at the marina searching the boat Monday morning and said further details would be released later. A Civil Guard source told the Associated Press that the stationary yacht was the Tango, a 78-meter (254-foot) boat flying the Cook Islands flag, and that Superyachtfan.com, a specialized website that monitors the largest and most exclusive yachts. in the world. worth $ 120 million. The source also did not have permission to be named in the media reports and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The yacht is among the assets associated with Viktor Wexelberg, billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who leads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a group of heterogeneous activities that includes metals, technology and other materials. , according to US Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the US have been frozen and US companies are barred from doing business with him and his entities. The move is the first time the US government has seized an oligarch’s yacht since Attorney General Merrick Garland and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convened a working group known as REPO – short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs – in an effort. sanctions after the Russian invasion. Ukraine in late February. Wexelberg has long had ties to the United States, including a green card he once owned and resides in New York and Connecticut. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era. Wexelberg was also questioned as part of an investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and worked closely with his American cousin Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York-based investment management company Columbus. Vekselberg and Intrater came to the fore in Mueller’s investigation after the lawyer of the adult movie star, Stormy Daniels, published a note claiming that $ 500,000 in silent money was channeled through Columbus Nova to a shell company founded by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Columbus Nova has denied that Vekselberg 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. The 64-year-old tycoon founded the Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest share in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s largest aluminum producer, among other investments. Vekselberg was first imposed by the US in 2018 and again in March this year, shortly after the start of the invasion of Ukraine. Vekselberg has also been punished by the authorities in the United Kingdom. The US Department of Justice has also launched a special sanctions team known as KleptoCapture, which also aims to impose US financial sanctions on Russia and its billionaires, in collaboration with the FBI, the Treasury Department and other federal agencies. This task force will also target financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to avoid sanctions. The White House said many allied countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and others, were involved in gathering information and exchanging information against Russians seeking sanctions. In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden warned the oligarch that US and European allies “will find and occupy your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.” “We are coming for your illegal profits,” he said. Monday’s arrest is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht. Officials there said they had seized a ship worth more than $ 140 million belonging to the chief executive of a state-owned defense group heterogeneous and a close ally of Putin. French authorities have also seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, Putin’s ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the US sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Italy has also seized many yachts and other assets. Italian financial police moved quickly, seizing the Lena superyacht owned by Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo. the 65-meter “Lady M” owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, with six suites and an estimated value of 65 million euros. as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials. __ Para reported from Madrid and Balsamo from Washington.
title: “Us Seizes Yacht Owned By Oligarch With Close Ties To Putin " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-13” author: “Michael Jones”
The Spanish Civil Guard and US federal agents boarded a yacht at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. Associated Press reporters at the scene saw police getting in and out of the boat Monday morning. The joint operation to seize the yacht, with the Spanish Civil Guard, the FBI and Internal Security Investigations, was carried out at the request of US authorities, the Civil Guard said. A Civil Guard source told the Associated Press that the stationary yacht was the Tango, a 78-meter (254-foot) boat flying the Cook Islands flag, and that Superyachtfan.com, a specialized website that monitors the largest and most exclusive yachts. in the world. worth $ 120 million. The source also did not have permission to be named in the media reports and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity. The yacht is among the assets associated with Viktor Wexelberg, billionaire and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who leads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a group of heterogeneous activities that includes metals, technology and other materials. , according to US Treasury Department documents. All of Vekselberg’s assets in the US have been frozen and US companies are barred from doing business with him and his entities. Although Wexelberg has not been punished by the European Union, he is under investigation in the US for possible tax fraud, money laundering and forgery of documents just to hide the ownership of the yacht Tango, the Civil Guard said in a statement. The move is the first time the US government has seized an oligarch’s yacht since Attorney General Merrick Garland and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen convened a working group known as REPO – short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs – in an effort. sanctions after the Russian invasion. Ukraine in late February. Wexelberg has long had ties to the United States, including a green card he once owned and resides in New York and Connecticut. The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminum and oil industries in the post-Soviet era. Wexelberg was also questioned as part of an investigation by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and worked closely with his American cousin Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York-based investment management company Columbus. Vekselberg and Intrater came to the fore in Mueller’s investigation after the lawyer of the adult movie star, Stormy Daniels, published a note claiming that $ 500,000 in silent money was channeled through Columbus Nova to a shell company founded by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Columbus Nova has denied that Vekselberg 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. The 64-year-old tycoon founded the Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest share in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s largest aluminum producer, among other investments. Vekselberg was first imposed by the US in 2018 and again in March this year, shortly after the start of the invasion of Ukraine. Vekselberg has also been punished by the authorities in the United Kingdom. The yacht is sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands and belongs to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands that manages different societies in Panama, the Political Guard said, “following a complex economic and social web to hide its true ownership”. Agents seized documents and computers inside the yacht that will be analyzed to confirm the owner’s true identity, he said. The US Department of Justice has also launched a special sanctions team known as KleptoCapture, which also aims to impose US financial sanctions on Russia and its billionaires, in collaboration with the FBI, the Treasury Department and other federal agencies. This task force will also target financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to avoid sanctions. The White House said many allied countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and others, were involved in gathering information and exchanging information against Russians seeking sanctions. In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden warned the oligarch that US and European allies “will find and occupy your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets.” “We are coming for your illegal profits,” he said. Monday’s arrest is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht. Officials there said they had seized a ship worth more than $ 140 million belonging to the chief executive of a state-owned defense group heterogeneous and a close ally of Putin. French authorities have also seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, Putin’s ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the US sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. Italy has also seized many yachts and other assets. Italian financial police moved quickly, seizing the Lena superyacht owned by Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo. the 65-meter “Lady M” owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, with six suites and an estimated value of 65 million euros. as well as villas in Tuscany and Como, according to government officials. __ Parra reported from Madrid and Balsamo from Washington.
