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The West has a “headache” to deal with confiscated Russian tycoon assets

Sanctions against tycoons Russia imposed by the European Union (EU), UK, US and many others have unleashed a wave of asset freezes across Europe.

Countries have seized the yacht belonging to the tycoon Alexei Mordashov in Imperia (Italy), the yacht of billionaire Igor Sechin in the port of La Ciotat (France), the 18 million USD resort of the giant Alisher Usmanov in Sardinia … the newest billionaire Roman Abramovich froze all assets in the UK.

“We join our European allies in finding and seizing your yachts, real estate, private jets,” – US President Joe Biden once warned Russian tycoons. “We are forced to act for the wealth you earn on illicit income.”

However, legal experts say it is easy to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs, but deciding what to do with them – who will get ownership of the proceeds – is much more difficult and could lead to years of litigation in court.

    West has

Image of billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s yacht Dilbar being “frozen” by German authorities. Photo: Express Cruise.

Legal experts say sanctions generally don’t allow states to own the yachts, planes or real estate they confiscate from tycoons.

According to sanctions announced by the US and Europe, Russian elites who “illegally enrich” and “support the government of President Vladimir Putin” will “freeze their assets” and their assets will be frozen.

Under US law and most European laws, frozen assets are still owned by the tycoon, but cannot be transferred or sold. For example, Mr Sechin and Mordsahov continue to own their yacht, but the property must remain “immovable”.

To actually become the owner of a yacht or luxury tycoon property, government prosecutors must prove that the property is “criminal”. Under US civil foreclosure laws, a property, even if it is “criminal”, can only be confiscated by court order.

“The government has to prove crimes and links to the Russian president by the oligarchs,” said Stefan Cassella, a US-based expert on extortion and money laundering law. This is very difficult because they can say: “I obey the laws in force in Russia and in Europe”.

In addition, tycoons are also “masters of guarding wealth”, according to the channel CNBC (America). They use shell companies, trusts, offshore jurisdictions, and networks of family members and associates to hide their true holdings.

Superyachts are almost always owned by separate legal entities, not individuals. For example, billionaire Usmanov’s 150-meter superyacht Dilbar is registered in the Cayman Islands through a company based in Malta.

In addition, the maintenance of the yacht during confiscation is also a dilemma. In principle, the tycoons are still responsible for paying the crew, staff, maintenance costs… However, they can refuse. journal Forbes reported that 96 crew members of the Dilbar cruise ship received an email saying that the company on behalf of the ship could not continue to pay them.

Therefore, international legal experts agree that “taking the assets of the Russian oligarchs in Western countries seems much easier than dealing with them”.

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