THEO VAN GOGH: WHAT HAPPENDED TO RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS – NOT MUCH !

ICU TEAM INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS – 24-8-22  It’s been about six months since Western authorities vowed to crack down on the enormous wealth of Russian oligarchs who have backed the rise of President Vladimir Putin.

To build on past efforts to pressure Russia for its aggression toward Ukraine, world leaders publicly committed to expanding on longstanding sanctions regimes by proactively blocking and seizing the lavish trappings of Putin’s top allies.

“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a speech last March. “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

But it hasn’t been an easy ride. As ICIJ reporting has long shown, those luxury assets are often tied up in labyrinthian offshore corporate structures that obscure who truly owns them – making the job of government investigators that much harder.

Will Fitzgibbon draws from leaked documents to break down the paper trail behind some top oligarchs whose yachts have since been scooped up by authorities around the world. The Pandora Papers reveal not just the secret assets of some of Russia’s most prominent billionaires, but the string of lawyers, bankers, financial specialists, shipbuilders, and other enablers who have helped them live large, under the radar.

The files provide a firsthand look at how the likes of Putin’s former KGB schoolmate Gennady Timcehnko, Russia’s richest man Alexei Mordashov, and billionaire defense contracting chief Sergei Chemezov acquired these astronomically pricey playthings through complex networks of shell companies and trusted associates, including romantic partners and family members.