US FBI and Spanish Civil Guard officers have been searching a yacht owned by an oligarch with close ties to the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
They descended on the vessel at the Marina Real in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of Spain’s Balearic Islands, on Monday morning.
A Civil Guard spokesman said more details will be released later.
The immobilised yacht is Tango, a 254-foot vessel carrying a Cook Islands flag, a Civil Guard source said, and is valued at around £91.5 million according to superyachtfan.com, a specialised website tracking the world’s largest and most exclusive recreational boats.
The yacht is among the assets linked to Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire and close ally of Mr Putin who heads the Moscow-based Renova Group, a conglomerate encompassing metals, mining, tech and other assets, according to US Treasury Department documents.
Mr Vekselberg’s assets in the US are frozen and US companies are forbidden from doing business with him and his entities.
Mr Vekselberg has long had ties to the US, including a green card he once held and homes in New York and Connecticut.
The Ukrainian-born businessman built his fortune by investing in the aluminium and oil industries in the post-Soviet era.
Mr Vekselberg was also questioned during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and has worked closely with his American cousin, Andrew Intrater, who heads the New York investment management firm Columbus Nova.
Mr Vekselberg and Mr Intrater were thrust into the spotlight during the election probe after a lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels released a memo claiming $500,000 (£382,000) in hush money was routed through Columbus Nova to a shell company set up by Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Columbus Nova denied that Mr Vekselberg played a role in its payments to Mr Cohen.
Mr Vekselberg and Mr Intrater met with Mr Cohen at Trump Tower, one of several meetings between members of Mr Trump’s inner circle and high-level Russians during the 2016 campaign and transition.
The 64-year-old mogul founded Renova Group more than three decades ago. The group holds the largest stake in United Co. Rusal, Russia’s biggest aluminium producer, among other investments.
Mr Vekselberg was first sanctioned by the US in 2018, and again this March, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. Mr Vekselberg has also been sanctioned by authorities in the United Kingdom.
The US Justice Department and the Treasury Department have launched sanctions enforcement initiatives to “seize and freeze” giant boats and other pricey assets of Russian elites because of the Kremlin’s war.
The White House said many allied countries, including Germany, the UK, France, Italy and others are trying to collect and share information against Russians targeted for sanctions.
President Joe Biden warned oligarchs the US and its European allies will “find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets”.
He said: “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”
