Paolo Gozzani, of the local CGIL Union, spoke to MailOnline in late March when the Russian crew were suddenly recalled from the Scheherazade. The yacht arrived at the port at the end of last summer under the steerage of Captain Bennett-Pearce, who denies that Putin is the owner or has ever been on board. The boat even houses its own hospital, workers said, amid rumours that Putin's health is failing. Workers taking part in the vessel re-fit have described it as a miniature floating city - complete with 'countless swimming pools, a spa, a sauna, a theatre, ballrooms, a gym, [and two helipads.' Shortly after the results of Navalny's investigation were published, the entire Russian crew vanished and were replaced by Britons. Scheherazade is one of the largest and most-expensive privately-owned boats in the world, coming equipped with multiple swimming pools, spas, a gym, and two helipads Putin is also known to list family or friends as owners, with his name almost never used on official documents. The only member of the crew who did not work for the secret service was British captain Guy Bennett Pierce, who confirmed that the vessel is Russian-owned but refused to say who the owner is.ĭocuments for the Scheherazade seen by Navalny's team show the official owner is an offshore company from the Marshall Islands - a tactic commonly used by the super-rich to conceal their wealth. So we should.'Ī probe into the vessel's crew revealed that almost all of them worked for either the FSB or FSO - Russian secret services that are charged with protecting Putin - and routinely flew to and from Moscow on shift rotations. The Italian authorities are doing nothing to stop it. The decision to seize the Cayman islands registered yacht after Navalny supporter Maria Pevchikh posted on Twitter:' Ok guys we have a problem, Putin's secret $700 million yacht is about to escape sanctions by simply taking off from Italy. They obtained information which suggested that many of the yacht's crew were members of the Federal Protection Service, the agency that provides security for Putin and his acolytes. Mr Khudainatov is close to Igor Sechin, a Putin ally and chairman of Rosneft.īut activists and investigative journalists linked to Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, are convinced that it belongs to Putin. He is the former chairman and chief executive of Rosneft, the state-owned Russian company that deals in oil and gas. There have been claims that the vessel may belong to Eduard Khudainatov, a Russian oil tycoon who has not been hit by sanctions. The Scheherazade's captain, Briton Guy Bennett-Pearce, has denied Putin is the owner but has refused to reveal who is. Tonight Mariateresa Levi of the Italian Financial Police told MailOnline:' I am not in a position to tell you who the actual owner is but we are satisfied that the yacht should be seized and in the next few hours officers will board and impound her.' 'On the basis of these elements it has been recommended that the yacht be placed on the current European Union sanctions list and the Minister of Finance in Rome has agreed.'
PIERCE PIANO ATLAS ONLINE VERIFICATION
In recent days there has been a flurry of activity around the yacht and when MailOnline visited in March it emerged that the majority of the Russian crew had been spirited away in the middle of the night and replaced by a British contingent.Ī statement from the Italian Financial Police said: 'After verification by the fiscal authorities it has come to light that there is a significant economic connection between the owner of The Scheherazade and senior elements of the Russian government.
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