FBI catches Russian billionaire trying to get $90 million Tango yacht arrested in Spain out of sanctions

Viktor Vekselberg looked under the dressing gown

The US Department of Justice showed the Russian businessman Vladislav Osipov and British businessman Richard Masters accusations of attempting to de-restrict the $90 million 78m yacht Tango, which Washington claims is owned by a sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. Masters, 52, was detained in Spain with a view to extradition to the United States, and an arrest warrant was issued against Osipov, 51, according to the report. US Department of Justice announcement.

Richard Masters

“Today’s indictments and arrest by Spanish law enforcement show that the FBI remains focused on tracking down and prosecuting those who help sanctioned Russian oligarchs.” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said.

Yacht Tango

The indictment alleges that Osipov and Masters used American companies and the US financial system in an attempt to hide the ownership of the yacht by the sanctioned Vekselberg, despite the fact that the billionaire “designed, was the sole user and ultimate beneficiary” of Tango. Osipov, who works for Vekselberg, developed a complex ownership structure through shell companies, in Masters’ company in Palma de Mallorca (Spain), after Vekselberg fell under sanctions, took control of the yacht and tried to hide from US financial institutions the fact that Tango was being serviced hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent, according to the US Department of Justice. For this, the dummy name of the yacht Fanta was used, among other things, the agency established.

Masters ran the yacht management company Masters Yachts, which helped Vekselberg manage the yacht after he was sanctioned in 2018. In the documents, the Tango yacht appeared as “Fanta”, and the money for the service was transferred through third parties in different currencies, due to which the vessel continued to function.
Head of Transparency International Ilya Shumanov noticed the fact that the FBI agents were able to arrest Masters, including due to a miscalculation of the company. So, Vekselberg ordered 58 bathrobes with the logo of the Tango yacht from an American company, but the fake name “Fanta” was indicated on the invoices.
Vekselberg’s yacht was arrested in the port of Palma de Mallorca in April. On April 4, a search was conducted there, during which documents and computers were confiscated. Vekselberg is suspected of money laundering, fraud and forgery in order to hide the owner of the yacht. The cost of the 77-meter four-deck yacht Tango is about $90-120 million. It was built in 2011 and sails under the flag of the Cook Islands.

In March 2022, the US Treasury, as part of new sanctions against Russia decided to block the yacht Tango and the plane, which, according to the department, are associated with Vekselberg. The billionaire who was sanctioned in 2018 declaredthat the re-inclusion on the sanctions list is “not only unfounded, but seems to be based on demonstrably unfounded assumptions.”

In April, the Spanish Civil Guard, at the request of the FBI, arrested the Tango yacht, which was at the shipyard in Mallorca. US Department of Justice then declaredthat Vekselberg purchased Tango in 2011 and used front companies to hide his involvement in the yacht.

Vekselberg and Renova controlled by him fell under US sanctions back in 2018, after which Vekselberg’s accounts in Switzerland for $1.02 billion blocked. Vekselberg, who took 22nd place in 2022 rating of the richest businessmen in Russia according to Forbes with a fortune estimated at $ 5.5 billion, appealed This is a decision in an American court.

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