NBC: Houses linked to Vekselberg searched in US

The FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security searched several properties that may be associated with Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg, about this informed NBC News, citing sources.

According to the channel, FBI agents were seen this morning at an apartment in a high-rise building on Park Avenue in Manhattan and at an estate in Southampton, New York, which, according to authorities, may be connected to Vekselberg. The agents also ransacked a Fisher Island home in Miami that authorities say is also linked to the businessman, sources said.

Earlier, on April 4, Spanish law enforcement agencies at the request of the United States arrested the Tango yacht under the flag of the Cook Islands, owned by Vekselberg. Its cost is estimated at $900 million, the TV channel reported. The formal owner of the vessel is a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, which, in turn, is managed by Panamanian companies, the Civil Guard said. During the search of the vessel, documentation and computer equipment were seized. The US Department of Justice also confirmed the arrest of the yacht.

Viktor Vekselberg is the founder of the Renova business group. This year, he was also appointed co-chairman of the Association for the Development of Renewable Energy (ARVE), a position previously held by Anatoly Chubais. Now Vekselberg, like many Russian billionaires, is under sanctions from the EU, Canada, Great Britain and other countries.

He fell under US sanctions back in 2018. The sanctions imposed against Vekselberg prohibit US citizens and American companies from conducting financial transactions with the businessman and companies controlled by him. An OFAC press release dated April 6 stated that the sanctions against the businessman were imposed because of his “conduct of activities in the energy sector of the Russian economy.”

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