Possible Oligarch Ownership: Who Really Owns the Yachts?

The BKA is looking for oligarchs’ fortunes and comes across super yachts whose ownership is apparently being veiled. Now the FBI is also interested in a German shipyard and its ships.

The Lürssen shipyard in Bremen has an excellent reputation among the super-rich worldwide. On the Weser ships of the luxury class are built, mega yachts, some more than 150 meters long, which leave almost nothing to be desired by the well-heeled clientele. Often equipped with multiple swimming pools and helidecks, wine cellars and packed with valuable art. Some have submarine garages or even intensive care units.

“Let yourself be inspired,” says the shipyard’s website, where the imposing ships – “Our Masterpieces” – are presented in a photo gallery. “Here you can explore some of the most extraordinary ships in the world – each one as individual as its owner.”

For several months now, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has also been interested in some of the ships that have been launched at Lürssen in recent years, and above all in their owners. The investigators are part of a task force set up by the federal government shortly after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began to enforce sanctions against Russian oligarchs. They are supposed to track down the assets of Putin’s clique in Germany. And they are far from investigating alone.

Europol and FBI are looking for assets

Europol is now running Operation Oscar, and in France, Italy, Spain and Finland investigators are also on the hunt for yachts, villas, private jets, works of art and money from the rich followers in the Kremlin’s circle of power. And also in the USA one is on the trail of wealth. The US federal police FBI is looking for oligarch property on behalf of the US Department of Justice – and has searched for research by NDR, WDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ) also targeted the Lürssen shipyard.

American investigators are interested in more than half a dozen ships that were built by Lürssen in Bremen and that may belong to the Russians, which may have been sanctioned. This includes the “Dilbar”, which they attribute to the oligarch Alisher Usmanov and which was arrested by German authorities in April. But the “Scheherazade” and the “Crescent” are also included. The US authorities have assigned them to Igor Sechin, a close friend of Putin and the head of Rosneft.

In addition, the “Amadea” and “Ice” are the focus of the FBI. The investigators attribute the yachts to the billionaire Duma deputy Suleiman Kerimov. It is unclear whether all of this is the case, but it is difficult to find evidence of actual ownership.

In a request from the US authorities to German authorities, it is said that it is about “information in a preliminary investigation into suspected money laundering and violations of the sanctions imposed in connection with the Ukraine war”.

Shipyard apparently cooperates

The jurisdiction of the US judiciary stems from the fact that the costs of buying or renovating the yachts are said to have been paid in US dollars with the help of offshore companies. It is said that Lürssen, who is not being investigated, is cooperating fully and transmitting the requested data electronically. When asked, the shipyard did not want to comment and referred to the responsible authorities.

FBI officials were also present a few weeks ago when the BKA and tax investigators searched the luxury yacht “Dilbar,” which was built by Lürssen and which investigators attribute to the oligarch Usmanov. The yacht is held through a network of shell companies and has officially belonged to Usmanov’s sister since 2017. German authorities are now investigating Usmanov for tax evasion and money laundering.

True owners are veiled

Clarifying the ownership of the luxury yachts is proving difficult. The ships are often acquired through intertwined networks of shell companies, holding companies and trustees. However, in order for the EU sanctions to be enforced, the authorities must provide accurate proof that the yachts actually belong to sanctioned oligarchs. The documents of the shipbuilders can provide information about this: Who negotiated the construction, who decided on the equipment or visited the shipyard?

The US authorities hope that, by working with their European colleagues, they will be able to clarify which mega-yachts are actually attributable to Russian President Vladimir Putin. There have long been rumors that the ruler in the Kremlin owns some of the most expensive private ships in the world, but there has never been any evidence of this.

German investigators now suspect that the “Graceful” yacht, which was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg in 2014, could belong to Putin. Last year, the Russian President received the Belarusian dictator Lukashenko on board. The ship, which officially belongs to the Russian state shipping company Sovkomflot, left Hamburg in a hurry in early February, shortly before the start of the war, in the direction of Kaliningrad. The Graceful was recently sighted in the Baltic Sea, escorted by a Russian Coast Guard vessel.

And even with the yacht “Scheherazade” there are suspicions that it could belong to Putin. The 140 meter long ship was built by Lürssen in 2014 and is said to have cost more than half a billion euros. In May, Italian authorities detained the yacht in the port of Marina di Carrara in Tuscany.

A “noble straw man” for Putin’s clique?

In the investigation of yachts like the “Scheherazade,” the German investigators have now come across a man who — at least on paper — owns several mega-yachts. Eduard Khudaynatov used to be the head of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, and today he owns an oil company. The investigators attribute at least five ships to the entrepreneur, they are said to have a total value of more than one billion US dollars, including the 130-meter-long “Crescent”. Actually, so the investigators believe, she can be assigned to Putin’s friend and Rosneft boss Igor Sechin.

Khudaynatov is said to be rich, but the question is: is he really that rich? The investigators suspect that he may only be acting as a kind of “noble straw man” and that the ships actually belong to Putin’s circle. In June, Khudaynatov was put on your EU sanctions list as a precaution because of his closeness to “Igor Sechin and President Vladimir Putin”. Khudaynatov left an inquiry about the allegations unanswered.