Italy seizes $156 million in oligarch wealth, pressing Putin

MILAN (AP) — European governments are moving against Russian oligarchs to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to back down on his war in Ukraine, seizing superyachts and other luxury properties from billionaires on sanctions lists.

Italy since Friday has seized 143 million euros ($156 million) in luxury yachts and villas in some of its most picturesque destinations, including Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como.

“We must be able to stop Putin’s attack, bringing him to the table, and he won’t go with niceties," Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told Italian state TV on Friday, announcing Italy’s plans to begin the seizures of property belonging to oligarchs close to Putin.

Italian financial police moved quickly seizing the superyacht “Lena" belonging to Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch close to Putin, in the port of San Remo; the 65-meter (215-foot) “Lady M” owned by Alexei Mordashov in nearby Imperia, estimated to be worth 65 million euros; as well as villas in Tuscany and Como.

The villa of Russian-Uzbek business magnate Alisher Usmanov was seized along the tony Emerald Coast in northern Sardinia, long the playground of the world’s wealthiest, the Italian news agency LaPresse reported.

German officials this week denied reports that it had seized Usmanov's yacht in the port of Hamburg. According to the British government, he also owns Beechwood House in Highgate, worth an estimated 48 million pounds, and the 16th-century Sutton Place estate in Surrey.

Activists say that going after the oligarchs is tantamount to going after Putin.

“Vladimir Putin keeps all his money with the oligarchs,” said William Browder, a U.S.-born and London-based financier and human rights activist who was once a major investor in Russia but ran afoul of the government...