Russia’s richest man Alexei Mordashov has £45 million ‘Lady M’ superyacht seized by Italian cops in oligarch crackdown
THE £45million superyacht owned by Russia's richest man has been seized by Italian cops amid a crackdown on oligarch assets.
Alexei Mordashov's Lady M has been impounded at the northern Italian port of Imperia, a source confirmed to .
The 213ft, Lady M is believed to be worth £45 million, according to Forbes, and was built in 2013 by premier yacht company Palmer Johnson.
The yacht boasts six cabins with space for up to 12 guests as well as a beauty salon, a pool and a helicopter pad.
The steel billionaire was believed to be in the Seychelles this week after reportedly sailing from the Maldives.
The Italian government estimates the superyacht's value is now £54 million.
He also owns a villa with an estimated vale of £55 million on the coast of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, according to Italian media.
It is not clear if that has been seized by authorities at this stage.
The West has hit companies and oligarchs at the heart of Putin’s brutal regime with sanctions worth billions of pounds, asset freezes and travel bans.
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Mordashov was among oligarchs added to the EU's sanctions blacklist - along with Igor Sechin, head of state oil giant Rosneft, and Nikolay Tokarev, boss of pipeline mammoth Transneft.
A second yacht owned by billionaire Gennady Timchenko, who is closely linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been also blocked in Imperia and will be sequestered shortly.
It comes as oligarchs, including Mordashov, appeared to be moving their plush superyachts to safe havens around the world as the West tightens sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
Data from Marine Traffic showed at least four yachts owned by Russian tycoons cruising around the Seychelles, Montenegro and the Maldives.
US president Joe Biden said he and his allies plan to seize the yachts, luxury apartments and private jets of wealthy connected Russians.
France is also drawing up a list of properties owned by Russian oligarchs - including yachts - that could be seized under EU sanctions.
And the Maldives and Montenegro do not have an extradition treaties with the US - making it a safe haven for the yachts belonging to the Russian billionaires.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said lawyers at the Foreign Office were building up "watertight" cases to successfully sanction Russian oligarchs in the UK.
The MP threatened: "We will continue working through our hit list of oligarchs, focusing on their houses, their yachts and every aspect of their lives."
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Roman Abramovich, the owner of Premier League football club Chelsea, owns a number of superyachts, including the $600million Solaris - which has a missile detection system - and the $1billion Eclipse.
An MP claimed this week Abramovich was selling his properties in Britain to avoid possible financial sanctions.
