Quick update: the yacht captain who was arrested for helping Viktor Vekselberg evade sanctions involving his yacht TANGO has been released by Spanish authorities. The court took his passport and he has to check in every two weeks while they work out extradition #YachtWatch 1/
https://twitter.com/Billbrowder/status/1616570060436381697
According to the DOJ indictment, the yacht captain, Richard Masters, used his yacht management company Master Yachts to help Vekselberg evade sanctions. 3/ justice.gov/opa/pr/arrest-…
This is interesting since DOJ also claimed Imperial Yachts CEO Evgeny Kochman did the same w/ the yacht AMADEA, owned (at the time) by sanctioned oligarch Suleyman Kerimov (the yacht is now owned by the American People🇺🇸). 4/
https://twitter.com/alexzfinley/status/1532374820943454208?s=20&t=3i7mjyOkzsnLzH4deSmZcQ
As I note in the thread above, these yachts provide an infrastructure for laundering and moving money. 5/
A lot of people keep repeating that sanctions aren't working. But these oligarchs seem to be going to great lengths to evade them or lift them. 6/
I mean, DOJ also just indicted a former top FBI agent and former Russian diplomat for their role aiding sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska in his quest to lift/evade sanctions. 7/ nbcnews.com/politics/natio…
Sure, there is probably an element of wanting your money back. But when you remember that these assets help feed Putin's strategic spending, it starts to make more sense. 7/
The Russian economy is crumbling. Maybe these guys are trying to get cash to fund the war effort? To fund Wagner? 8/
Anyway, I'll have more on the yachts and on idiot FBI agents helping oligarchs they previously investigated soon. It's just so many indictments to read. So much crimeing. 9/
cc: @Billbrowder
cc: @Billbrowder
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
