Russian Billionaire Yacht Anchors in No-Extradition Maldives: Report

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• A superyacht owned by a sanctioned Russian billionaire arrived within the Maldives on Monday, AFP stated.
• The White Home stated Saturday it may seize the yachts of sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
• The Maldives does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

A superyacht owned by a US-sanctioned Russian billionaire has arrived within the Maldives, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday. It is one in all a number of Russian-owned pleasure craft believed to be headed to the sunny island nation, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US.

The yacht, Clio, is owned by Oleg Deripaska, the founding father of the Russian aluminum group Rusal who was sanctioned by the US in 2018. Clio dropped anchor off Malé, the capital of the Maldives, on Monday, AFP stated, citing port officers.

At the very least two different superyachts owned by Russian billionaires set sail for the Maldives shortly after Western nations threatened to grab belongings from sanctioned oligarchs, in response to knowledge from MarineTraffic reported by CNBC.

In a tweet Saturday, the White Home stated: “This coming week, we are going to launch a multilateral Transatlantic process power to establish, seek out, and freeze the belongings of sanctioned Russian firms and oligarchs — their yachts, their mansions, and every other ill-gotten positive factors that we will discover and freeze below the regulation.”

Deripaska’s 73-meter Clio “was designed for lengthy voyages all over the world and self-sufficient residing for a number of months at a time,” in response to its maker, Lürssen.

Deripaska was one in all two Russian billionaires who spoke out on Sunday in opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying in a Telegram put up, “Peace is essential.”

The Biden administration lately focused 10 Russian oligarchs as a part of a sweeping bundle of sanctions in opposition to Russia. The sanctions goal to financially cripple the nation’s wealthiest members in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Insider’s Avery Hartman reported on Monday that Russian billionaires have been nonetheless crisscrossing the globe on non-public jets and yachts regardless of the sanctions.