The US justice official in charge of seizing Russian assets breaks down the capture of an oligarch's $90 million superyacht

• The US seized sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg's $90 million yacht in Spain on April 4.
• Andrew Adams, director of the KleptoCapture inter-agency task force, broke down the seizure in a WaPo Q&A.

On April 4, the US seized a $90 million superyacht which it said belonged to sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. It was the first yacht seized by the US under sanctions aimed at hurting wealthy Russians with links to Vladimir Putin.

Vekselberg, whose net worth Bloomberg puts at around $16.4 billion, is chairman of the metals, mining, and energy conglomerate Renova Group. He was sanctioned by the US in 2018 and again in March after Russia invaded Ukraine, with the Tango and his private aircraft designated as blocked property.

The 255-foot Tango was seized at the Marina Real in Palma De Mallorca, Spain, by Spain's Civil Guard and officials tied to KleptoCapture, a task force set up in early March by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to seize the assets of sanctioned Russians.

In a live question and answer session with The Washington Post, Andrew Adams, director of KleptoCapture, detailed how and why his task force seized the vessel.

Making the case

The DOJ said Vekselberg bought Tango in 2011 but hid his ownership using shell companies to "avoid bank oversight into US dollar transactions related there." It said Vekselberg and people working on his behalf continued to make US dollar payments through US banks for the support and maintenance of the yacht, without obtaining the required license after he was sanctioned.

Adams said: "After having developed probable cause to demonstrate that the yacht was, in fact, the proceeds of sanctions evasion, as well as an asset involved in money laundering transactions, the mechanics get even more complicated."

However, he said the US was "in some ways lucky that the vessel was sitting where it was," in a "friendly port" in Spain.

"The Spanish authorities have been for years particularly adept in the investigation and in asset seizures and freezing in the area of Russian organized crime," Adams said. "So, we knew that we had a good partner to work with in Spain."

Seizing the Tango

Adams said US officials had to obtain a domestic seizure warrant from a magistrate judge and have it effected in Spain. The DOJ said a Spanish prosecutor obtained a freezing order from a Spanish court following a request from the US, as part of a bilateral treaty for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

"Once we had the warrant in place, the efforts then become one to physically seize the boat" and execute a search warrant, Adams told The Post. Agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations were on site to help with the search and the seizure, he said.

Adams said the US had to maintain the yacht and keep it in good order. He said that yachts can become forfeitable through criminal cases, "which remains a possibility in this instance."

"There will be more to come with respect to this yacht before the United States can fully and finally divest Mr Vekselberg of his interests yet," Adams said.

He added that he wasn't ruling out the possibility that some of the forfeiture from the yacht could be given to Ukraine.