The US is seeking to seize six luxury properties in New York and Florida, valued at $75 million, tied to oligarch Viktor Vekselberg as it continues to pursue assets of wealthy Russians a year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
(Bloomberg) — The US is seeking to seize six luxury properties in New York and Florida, valued at $75 million, tied to oligarch Viktor Vekselberg as it continues to pursue assets of wealthy Russians a year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prosecutors in Manhattan on Friday asked a court for forfeiture of the properties in New York City, Southampton, New York, and Fisher Island, Florida, claiming they’re the proceeds of sanctions violations. The government claims they are involved in international money laundering by Vladimir Voronchenko, who was charged this month.
“Today’s action, filed on the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, seeks forfeiture” of the properties “maintained by funneling millions of dollars into the United States,” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
The properties include 19 Duck Pond Lane, a nine-bedroom, 11-bathroom spread in Southampton, assessed at $12.9 million, with a wine room, a gym, an all-weather tennis court and a “wide lawn perfect for a soccer game or an elegant sculpture garden,” according to a listing on Zillow.
The Manhattan home, at 515 Park Avenue, was last listed at $14.6 million. It is a 3,500-square foot, four-bedroom, four-bath residence with a renovation overseen by Italian interior designer Augusto Busnelli, according to StreetEasy. One of the Florida homes is a seven-bedroom, seven-bath trophy penthouse condominium on Fisher Island, one of Miami Beach’s most exclusive residential enclaves, according to Realtor.com.
Read More: Russia’s Richest Lose $67 Billion of Wealth After a Year of War
The US has been aggressively pursuing assets held by wealthy Russians since the country’s invasion of Ukraine one year ago through a task force called KleptoCapture that hunts for yachts, private jets and hidden cash tied to sanctioned Russians. The Justice Department on Friday charged Ilya Balakaev, a Russian national, with smuggling equipment used in counterintelligence operations to Russia from the US and exporting hazardous gas detectors to Russia from the US for North Korea.
Prosecutors claim that after Vekselberg was deemed a Specially Designated National subject to US sanctions in April 2018, Voronchenko and a family member directed 25 wire transfers into the account of a US lawyer to maintain and service the properties.
Voronchenko, a childhood friend of Vekselberg’s, was charged earlier this month with participating in a scheme to make more than $4 million in payments to maintain four of the properties and attempting to sell two of them.
The US last month charged two businessmen with helping to operate Vekselberg’s yacht.
The case is US v. 19 Duck Pond Lane, Southampton, New York, 23-cv-01545, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
–With assistance from Patricia Hurtado.
(Updates with details and context starting in fourth paragraph.)
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