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☆ South Africa’s stance on Russia puzzles many. Could a mine in the desert hold answers?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( David Mckenzie | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Johannesburg, South Africa CNN —To many observers, South Africa’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine is puzzling. This week, while many African leaders stay away, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is attending a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg along with key ministers. So, why is South Africa putting this important relationship at risk? The US had long treated South Africa with kid gloves, he said, mindful of not risking an important relationship. Officials have denied that anything was loaded up, but the claim is now subject to a sealed South African government inquiry.

Persons: South Africa CNN —, Cyril Ramaphosa, Viktor Vekselberg, Vladimir Putin, Byron Blunt, Chancellor House, Mogopodi Mokoena, Mokoena, UMK, ”, Karam Singh, Steven Gruzd, Reuben Brigety II, Brigety, Mikhail Metzel, Chancellor House’s, Putin, Yuri Trutnev, Konstantin Zavrazhin, Vekselberg, “, “ Mr Organizations: South Africa CNN, Russia, United Nations, Russian Navy, National Congress, Soviet Union, AmaBhungane, Investigative Journalism, CNN, Chancellor House Holdings, ANC, Mail & Guardian, Chancellor House, Corruption Watch, Chancellor, South African Institute of International Affairs, US, South, AP Mokoena, International Criminal Court, ICC, Getty, Treasury, FBI, Renova Group Locations: Johannesburg, South Africa, Ukraine, Africa, United States, Russian, Russia, St . Petersburg, States, St, Petersburg, Cape Town, African, Cape Town , South Africa, Mallorca, UMK, Cyprus, South

☆ Head of US 'KleptoCapture' unit targeting Russian oligarchs leaves Justice Dept.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Andrew Adams, who has led the "KleptoCapture" task force since its inception in March 2022, will be replaced by his deputies Michael Khoo and David Lim, a DOJ spokesperson said. "It was a privilege to cap this time in service of the Department's response to the war in Ukraine," Adams, a 10-year Justice Department veteran, wrote in a LinkedIn post. In launching the task force, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said it would enforce sanctions and export controls designed to freeze Russia out of global markets, and confiscate assets obtained through unlawful conduct. During Adams' tenure, the unit unveiled indictments against aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska and TV tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev for alleged sanctions busting, and seized yachts belonging to sanctioned oligarchs Suleiman Kerimov and Viktor Vekselberg. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washingon, D.C.; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Andrew Adams, Michael Khoo, David Lim, Adams, General Merrick Garland, Oleg Deripaska, Konstantin Malofeyev, Suleiman Kerimov, Viktor Vekselberg, Artem Uss, Khoo, Lim, Luc Cohen, Sarah N, Lynch, Daniel Wallis Organizations: U.S . Department, Reuters, Department of Justice, DOJ, Department, Vekselberg's, Huawei Technologies, Iran, Airbus, D.C, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Ukraine, New York City , New York, U.S, Russia, York, Russian, Italy, New York, Washingon

☆ American Lawyer Pleads Guilty Over Work for Sanctioned Russian Oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg was blacklisted by the U.S. in 2018. Photo: Sergei Bobylev/Zuma PressA New York lawyer has pleaded guilty to criminal charges stemming from payments he made for Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg , the latest in a crackdown on the white-collar professionals who federal prosecutors say are key enablers of the Kremlin’s sanctions-evasion efforts. The lawyer, Robert Wise , helped Mr. Vekselberg make about $3.8 million in payments to maintain six properties in New York and Florida owned by the Russian billionaire, prosecutors say. The Pelham, N.Y., resident pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court Tuesday to one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering and agreed to pay $210,000.

☆ U.S. imposes fresh sanctions on financial network linked to Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions aimed at the financial network linked to Russian billionaire and business tycoon Alisher Usmanov. Last year, German authorities seized the world's largest superyacht following official confirmation that the vessel had links to Usmanov. Read more: World’s largest yacht, linked to Russian billionaire Usmanov, is seized by GermanyUsmanov and his superyacht entered the crosshairs of the U.S. and its allies following coordinated global sanctions on Russian elites with Kremlin ties. Last March, French authorities seized a massive yacht they say is linked to Igor Sechin, a Russian billionaire who is CEO of state oil company Rosneft. The Lady M, known to be the property of Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov, was previously seized in Italy.

☆ Putin tells Russia's billionaires to put patriotism before profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a forum of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) in Moscow, Russia, March 16, 2023. MOSCOW, March 16 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin urged Russia's billionaires on Thursday to put patriotism before profit, telling them to invest at home to shore up the economy in the face of Western sanctions. Addressing Russia's business elite in person for the first time since the day he sent his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year, Putin told them their role was not just to make money but to support society. Last month he told business leaders that ordinary Russians had no sympathy for the confiscation of their yachts and palaces. ECONOMY RESISTS SANCTIONSThe president said on Thursday that what he called an attempt to destroy Russia's economy with sanctions had failed.

☆ Dozens of sanctioned superyachts seized from Russian oligarchs still hang in limbo, racking up millions in maintenance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Grace Kay | Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Seized yachts owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs hang in limbo as US and European authorities decide next steps. Annual maintenance for some of the yachts costs as much as $115.6 million. Earlier this week, CNBC reported that billions of dollars in oligarch's assets — from yachts and villas to private jets — are still frozen. And while the Russian oligarchs are still technically responsible for paying for yacht maintenance, they're unlikely to fork over the maintenance cost or authorities will encounter difficulty collecting the funds due to sanctions on financial transactions with the billionaires. According to Maltby, the maintenance cost of a yacht usually totals about 15% to 20% of its overall value.

☆ DoJ moves to seize 6 luxury properties in New York, the Hamptons, and Florida worth $75 million from sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Department of Justice has moved to seize six luxury properties owned by a sanctioned oligarch. Viktor Vekselberg's homes in New York, the Hamptons, and Florida, are worth $75 million. Vekselberg bought the homes via shell companies in Panama and The Bahamas, prosecutors alleged. Court documents show Vekselberg purchased the properties using two shell companies based in Panama, and The Bahamas. Prosecutors say Vekselberg attempted to sell two properties without informing the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

☆ U.S. prosecutors seize properties, charge Russian on Ukraine invasion anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday said they were seeking to forfeit six properties in New York and Florida allegedly belonging to a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and separately charged a Russian national with illegally exporting counterintelligence equipment. The announcements came on the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation." The Department of Justice has sought to use asset seizures and criminal charges to squeeze business executives aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin to press him to stop the war. Two of the properties - an apartment on Park Avenue in Manhattan and an estate in Southampton, New York - had been searched by FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents last year. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Prosecutors Charge Russian Who Managed Oligarch Viktor Vekselberg’s U.S. Properties
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

A U.S. permanent resident who managed Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg ‘s properties in Florida and New York has been charged with money laundering and sanctions evasion after fleeing the U.S., federal prosecutors said. Mr. Voronchenko, who was also charged with participating in an effort to sell two of Mr. Vekselberg’s properties, fled the U.S. in May after receiving a grand jury subpoena, prosecutors said. Mr. Vekselberg was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2018. After Mr. Vekselberg was sanctioned, the source of the funds used to maintain the properties changed, prosecutors said. Mr. Voronchenko was served with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in May while on Fisher Island, prosecutors said.

☆ Former FBI Agent Charged With Taking Payments From Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Dylan Tokar | C. Ryan Barber | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

A former high-level FBI agent was indicted on charges he violated U.S. sanctions by accepting secret payments from Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska for work he did investigating a rival oligarch. Mr. McGonigal, who also supervised investigations into Mr. Deripaska and other Russian oligarchs before departing the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2018, began conspiring to provide services to Mr. Deripaska in 2021, prosecutors said. Additionally, the former FBI agent in 2019 participated in an unsuccessful effort to have the sanctions on Mr. Deripaska lifted, prosecutors said. PREVIEWAn indictment unsealed on Monday charged Mr. McGonigal and a former Russian diplomat, Sergey Shestakov, with violating and conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions imposed on Mr. Deripaska in 2018, as well as with related money-laundering charges. Prosecutors in October also announced the indictment of a British businessman who worked as a property manager for Mr. Deripaska.

☆ The Department of Justice charged 2 men over helping to conceal Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg's ownership of a $90 million superyacht
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Richard Masters and Vladislav Osipov were charged by the Department of Justice for sanctions evasion. The US has accused the pair of trying to conceal a sanctioned oligarch's ownership of a superyacht. Masters, 52, used a fake name for Viktor Vekselberg's "Tango," calling it the "Fanta," per DoJ. Prosecutors said Vladislav Osipov and Richard Masters had facilitated the operation of Vekselberg's $90 million yacht that was seized by Spanish authorities last April. Osipov designed a "complicated ownership structure of shell companies" to mask Vekselberg's ownership of the boat, called "Tango," according to the DoJ.

☆ U.S. charges two men with facilitating sanctions evasion of Russian oligarch's yacht
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The yacht called "Tango" owned by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the U.S. on March 11, is seen at Palma de Mallorca Yacht Club in the Spanish island of Mallorca, Spain March 15, 2022. REUTERS/Juan MedinaWASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Friday it charged two businessmen, one Russian and one British, with allegedly facilitating a sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme in relation to a $90 million yacht of billionaire Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Washington imposed sanctions on Vekselberg in 2018 over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election, and in 2022 over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Osipov, an employee of Vekselberg, designed a complicated ownership structure of shell companies to hide Vekselberg’s ownership of the yacht, the Justice Department alleged. Vekselberg owned the Renova group of companies, which operate in Russia's energy sector, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, which enforces sanctions.

☆ A cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch reportedly has 'deep' ties to Rep. George Santos and had business contracts with Michael Cohen
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

GOP Rep. George Santos has closer ties to Russian oligarchs than previously known, per The Washington Post. Santos reportedly received campaign donations from Andrew Intrater, a cousin of Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. Santos also claimed that Columbus Nova was his "client" while working for Harbor City Capitol to find new investors in 2020, the paper reported. Intrater is also a known associate of former-Trump attorney Michael Cohen as well, Insider previously reported. Representatives for Santos, Intrater and Columbus Nova did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

☆ 'We were duped': How George Santos raised money from wealthy GOP donors while lying about his resume
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

His name was actually Sam Miele, and he worked for Santos raising money for his campaign, according to one GOP donor who contributed to Santos' campaign. In raising money for his campaign, Santos fed donors the same falsehoods he gave voters, campaign fundraisers and others say. "We were duped," said a Republican political strategist close to GOP donors and the leadership of the Republican Jewish Coalition. The RJC is considered the most prominent group of Jewish Republican donors, making gatherings such as the Hanukkah event key networking platforms for politicians. Vallone gave $17,900 in August between Santos' campaign, his leadership PAC and a joint fundraising committee, according to FEC records.

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