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The US government has seized a 78-metre yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It was a first by President Joe Biden's administration under sanctions imposed against luxury assets of Russian elites after the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Spain’s Civil Guard and US federal agents descended on the Tango on Monday at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
The US Justice Department, which obtained a warrant from a federal judge in Washington, alleges the yacht should be forfeited for breaching US bank fraud, money-laundering and sanctions statutes.
Superyachtfan.com, a website that tracks the world’s largest and most exclusive recreational boats, values the 78-metre vessel, which carries the Cook Islands flag, at $120 million.
The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close Putin ally who leads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, US Treasury Department documents show.
All of Mr Vekselberg’s assets in the US are frozen and American companies are barred from doing business with him and his entities.
The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminium and oil industries in the post-Soviet era.
Prosecutors allege Mr Vekselberg bought the Tango in 2011 and has owned it since, although they believe he has used shell companies to try to hide his ownership and avoid financial oversight.
They says Mr Vekselberg and those working for him continued to make payments using US banks to support and maintain the yacht, even after sanctions were imposed on him in 2018.
Those payments included a stay in December 2020 at a luxury water villa resort in the Maldives and fees to moor the yacht.
It is the first US seizure of an oligarch’s yacht since US Attorney General Merrick Garland and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assembled a task force known as Repo, short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs, to enforce sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
“It will not be the last.” Mr Garland said.
“Together, with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war.”
Mr Vekselberg has long had ties to the US, including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut.
He was also questioned in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who leads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.
Mr Vekselberg and Mr Intrater were thrust into the spotlight in that investigation after the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels released a memo that claimed $500,000 in hush money was routed through Columbus Nova to a shell company set up by Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.
Columbus Nova denied that Mr Vekselberg played any role in its payments to Cohen.
Mr Vekselberg and Mr Intrater met with Cohen at Trump Tower, one of several meetings between members of Mr Trump’s inner circle and high-level Russians during his 2016 campaign, and the transition before his presidency.
Mr Vekselberg founded Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest stake in United Rusal, Russia’s biggest aluminum producer, among other investments.
Mr Vekselberg first had sanctions imposed by the US in 2018, and again in March this year. He has also had sanctions imposed by authorities in the UK.
Agents confiscated documents and computers inside the yacht that will be analysed to confirm the real identity of the owner.
The US Justice Department has also launched a sanctions enforcement task force known as KleptoCapture, which also aims to enforce financial restrictions in the US imposed on Russia and its billionaires, working with the FBI, the US Treasury and other federal agencies.
The task force will also focus on financial institutions and entities that have helped oligarchs move money to avoid sanctions.
The White House has said that many allied countries, including Germany, Britain, France, Italy and others, are involved in trying to collect and share information against Russians who are targets for sanctions.
In his State of the Union address on March 1, Mr Biden warned oligarchs that the US and European allies would “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets".
“We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said.
Monday’s capture is not the first time Spanish authorities have been involved in the seizure of a Russian oligarch’s superyacht.
Officials said they had seized a vessel valued at over $140 million owned by the chief executive of a state-owned defence conglomerate and a close ally of Mr Putin.
French authorities have seized superyachts, including one believed to belong to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally who runs Russian oil giant Rosneft, which has been on the US sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Italy has seized several yachts and other assets.
Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht Lena belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Mr Putin, in the port of San Remo.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UPI facts
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More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
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Getting there:
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
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"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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