US charges two businessmen with helping Russian oligarch hide yacht and avoid seizure

Two businessmen have been charged with running a money laundering scheme to protect Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, from having his $90 million yacht confiscated. Fox Business.

Photo: IStock

Vladislav Osipov, 51, who holds dual citizenship (of Russia and Switzerland), and British citizen, Richard Masters, 52, are accused of sanctions evasion and money laundering related to operating the 255-foot (77 m) luxury yacht Tango after Vekselberg came under sanctions.

Masters was arrested in Spain at the request of the Department of Justice. Osipov remains at large for the time being.

“Sanction evaders allow oligarchs who support Vladimir Putin’s regime to violate US law,” United States Attorney Matthew Graves said.

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Both men used shell companies to allow Vekselberg, who was sanctioned in April 2018, to own the yacht. US sanctions prohibit US companies, such as banks, from doing business with entities under sanctions.

According to the Department of Justice, Masters ran a yacht management company in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and allegedly took over the Tango. He changed the yacht's name to Fanta to avoid banking sanctions.

As a result, U.S. financial institutions processed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of transactions for Tango that would not otherwise have been allowed if Vekselberg's involvement had become known.

In addition, Osipov and Masters forced yacht employees to continue doing business with US companies and used a number of workarounds, such as payments in other currencies and through third parties, to avoid detection.

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“As a result of these schemes, Tango’s operating mechanisms, including the Internet, technology, weather forecasting and computing systems, as well as satellite television, luxury goods and teleconferencing software, were entirely American-origin goods and services supplied by American companies for the benefit of Vekselberg,” according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

The yacht was arrested in April by the Spanish authorities at the request of the Department of Justice. Several luxury yachts owned by Russian oligarchs came under US sanctions after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago.

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