Millions spent on Russian oligarch’s swank Fisher Island, NY homes focus of indictment
An associate of a sanctioned Russian oligarch who owns two apartments on exclusive Fisher Island in Miami and another three luxury residences in New York was indicted Tuesday on charges of illegally spending $4 million of the billionaire’s money on property taxes and other maintenance costs.
Vladimir Voronchenko, 70, was described by federal authorities as a successful businessman, art collector and art dealer, as well as a close friend and business associate of Viktor Vekselberg, a 65-year-old owner of an industrial conglomerate who was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2018 and 2022 in connection with Russia’s invasions of Ukraine.
Voronchenko, who lived in one of the Fisher Island apartments, was subpoenaed last May to appear as a witness before a Manhattan federal grand jury but prosecutors say he instead fled the country for his homeland.
Voronchenko, a legal U.S. resident, is charged with violating and evading U.S. sanctions against Vekselberg and with laundering $4 million on behalf of the billionaire. He also faces contempt charges for failing to appear in court.
An indictment says Voronchenko oversaw 25 wire transfers of tainted money to an unnamed New York attorney who assisted in the maintenance of Vekselberg’s five properties in South Florida and New York. The money transfers were also used in an effort to sell two residences in Manhattan and a beachfront estate in the Hamptons, according to an indictment filed by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.
According to the indictment, Vekselberg-owned shell companies in Panama and the Bahamas purchased a Park Avenue apartment for $11 million in 2008; a second Park Avenue apartment for $610,000 in 2012; a Southampton house for $11.4 million in 2008; a Fisher Island apartment for $6.2 million in 2010; and a Fisher Island penthouse apartment for $31.2 million in 2017.
As part of the indictment against the oligarch’s associate, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said they plan to seize the Russian’s five residential properties, which are now worth a total of $75 million. They could eventually be sold, with proceeds going to the government.
Last year, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Treasury Department sanctioned Vekselberg for the second time and seized his 255-foot super yacht in Spain. The U.S. government also blocked his private airplane, an Airbus A319-115. Each asset was valued at $90 million.
Vekselberg, whose net worth Bloomberg estimates at $16.4 billion, is chairman of the metals, mining, and energy conglomerate Renova Group. Though sanctioned by the U.S. government, he has not been charged with any crimes.
This story was originally published February 7, 2023 at 6:11 PM.
