WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - United States officials are examining the ownership of a US$700 million (S$952 million) superyacht in a dry dock in an Italian sea coast town and believe it could be associated with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, according to multiple people briefed on the information.
US intelligence agencies have made no final conclusions about the ownership of the superyacht - called the Scheherazade - but US officials said they had found initial indications that it was linked to Mr Putin. The information from the US officials came after The New York Times reported on Tuesday (March 8) that the Italian authorities were looking into the 459-foot-long (139m) vessel's ownership and that a former crew member said it was for the use of Mr Putin.
People briefed on the intelligence would not describe what information they had that indicated the superyacht is associated with Mr Putin.
US officials said Mr Putin keeps little of his wealth in his own name. Instead he uses homes and boats nominally owned by Russian oligarchs. Still, it is possible that through various shell companies, Putin could have more direct control of the Scheherazade.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Putin has spent large amounts of time in the Russian resort city of Sochi, US officials said. The Scheherazade made trips to Sochi in the summers of 2020 and last year.
Both the Treasury Department's Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence are investigating the ownership of superyachts associated with Russian oligarchs. A spokesman for the Navy and a spokesman for the Treasury both declined to comment.
The Justice Department has set up a task force to go after the assets of sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
In addition, under recently published Commerce Department rule changes, if more than 25 per cent of a plane or a yacht is made of US-manufactured airplane or marine parts, it cannot go to Russia.
If a yacht is in a foreign country and meets the definition of a US-origin or US-made product, it would need a licence to go to Russia. To actually seize a yacht, the US would need to coordinate with a cooperative foreign government - Italy, in the case of the Scheherazade - to prevent the ship from moving to Russian waters.
