FBI agents and Spanish Civil Guards executed a joint operation at the port of Palma de Mallorca on Monday to seize a yacht owned by Russian mining oligarch and Putin pal Viktor Vekselberg, the Independent reports. The seizure is the first involving American authorities after Attorney General Merrick Garland and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen assembled a task force called REPO (“Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs”) last month to hit the bastards where it hurts.
An order last month from the Treasury Department authorizing action against Vekselberg reads he “has maintained close ties with leading GoR [Government of Russia] officials, including Putin and former Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev (Medvedev). Medvedev personally appointed Vekselberg to serve as director and president of the Skolkovo Foundation (SF), a GoR initiative aimed at creating a Russian version of Silicon Valley in order to elevate Russia’s international status as a leading innovation center for technological developments. Furthermore, Vekselberg has taken part in Russian diplomatic and soft power activities on behalf of the Kremlin.”