European Businessmen Charged in Scheme to Avoid Sanctions on Russian Yacht
Two businessmen -- Russian national Vladislav Osipov and British national Richard Masters -- were charged for their roles in a sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme connected with the ownership and operation of the $90 million superyacht Tango, DOJ announced. The yacht is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Per the terms of the indictments unsealed Jan. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Osipov and Masters are accused of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and commit offenses against the U.S., violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and money laundering, DOJ said.
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The businessmen "facilitated the operation" of the vessel through U.S. companies and the U.S. financial system all while hiding the oligarch's involvement despite Vekselberg being sanctioned in April 2018. Osipov "designed a complicated ownership structure of shell companies to hide Vekselberg’s ownership of the yacht, despite that Vekselberg designed the yacht, was the sole user, and was the ultimate beneficial owner," DOJ said.
Masters, meanwhile, ran a yacht management firm in Spain. This company took over the management of Tango after Vekselberg was sanctioned, allegedly conspiring with others to evade U.S. sanctions. Masters supposedly used a false name for the yacht, "the Fanta," to hide the ultimate purpose of payments for the oligarch. Due to this "obfuscation," U.S. banks processed hundreds of thousands of dollars of transactions for Tango that they otherwise would not have allowed had they known of Vekselberg’s involvement, DOJ said. These payments and Vekselberg’s involvement weren't reported to the Treasury Department.
Osipov and Masters "advised and enabled" Tango employees to continue to do business with U.S. companies by using "various workarounds to avoid sanctions, such as payments in other currencies and through third parties." Because of these sanctions evasion practices, the yacht's internet, technology, weather forecasting systems, computing systems, satellite television, luxury goods and teleconferencing software were all U.S.-origin products, DOJ said.
“Today’s indictments and the arrest [of Masters] executed by Spanish law enforcement demonstrate the FBI’s continued focus on tracking down and holding accountable those who assist sanctioned Russian oligarchs,” FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said. “The FBI, along with our international partners, will continue to aggressively investigate and pursue anyone who facilitates the corrupt practices of others, placing our institutions at risk.” An arrest warrant for Osipov remains outstanding.