If you’re like most people, you probably think of Florida as a place for retirees and vacationers. However, did you know that there is a large population of Russian oligarchs living in Florida? Many of them have bought up luxury properties along the coast.
This has caused some concern among locals, who are worried about what will happen if the Russian economy collapses.
Russian Oligarchs In Florida
Greetings from “Little Moscow.”
It is home to numerous Russian elites, just like its namesake city. Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, unlike its namesake city, is situated on a small peninsula close to Miami.
Real estate salesperson Lana Bell recently told News Nation correspondent Brian Entin about her affluent Russian clients: “They love to be here, and they like to spend their money and enjoy their lives.”
Over the years, the Russian capital has fueled a real estate boom in the area, but now these influential figures are worried they won’t be able to take advantage of the Miami heat for much longer.
They fear that the rising crisis between Russia and Ukraine may prevent them from purchasing real estate in the United States, as Entin noted, while Bell claimed that so far there hasn’t been an issue.
Federal Agents Search Supposedly Related To Russian Oligarch Property On Fisher Island
On September 1, 2022, federal officials searched a property on Fisher Island. According to Ryan Nelson’s reports, federal agents were reportedly observed Thursday checking a residence on South Florida’s ultra-exclusive Fisher Island as a result of an investigation into a Russian oligarch.
NBC News was informed by sources with knowledge of the situation that the search is related to billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In New York, boxes were seen being carried by Homeland Security Investigations and FBI officials as they searched an apartment in a Manhattan high-rise and a residence in the Hamptons.
Records revealed a connection between the properties and Vekselberg.
According to sources, the searches were related to ongoing investigations, however, it was unclear what kind of investigations.
NBC News said that attempts to get in touch with a Vekselberg representative were not immediately successful.
The $90 million superyacht owned by Vekselberg was confiscated by the US in April. As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the first sanctions to target the assets of Russian elites was the seizure.
Although no charges have been brought, Vekselberg is also the focus of an investigation by the Department of Justice into claims of bank fraud.
One property that has attracted a lot of interest from Russian investors eager to put money into the post-Soviet economy is Trump Towers.
According to The Washington Post, Trump has a license to use his name there but doesn’t own the structures. The Post was informed by real estate agents in 2016 that Russian oligarchs are particularly influential among the wealthy in Europe, South America, and Asia.
“The first question visitors from Russia ask is, ‘Where is the Trump building?'” According to Ilya Masarsky, a developer of real estate who has collaborated with Russian investors in the US, The Post.
Approximately one-third of the 500 units Jose Lima sold at the time were purchased by Russian speakers, according to Jose Lima, a sales representative for the company that built the Trump towers in the area.
According to a 2017 Reuters investigation, at least 63 members of the Russian elite invested up to $100 million in purchasing real estate in Trump buildings in the area, including the nearby city of Hollywood.
Some of the purchases were described as “politically connected businessmen” by Reuters, which also noted that none appeared to be a part of Putin’s inner circle.
Bell, a real estate realtor, told The Daily Beast in 2019: “Russian patriots are happy here; Sunny Isles is a pleasant area. “Russian males work at home and spend the winter only briefly in their Miami property.
The beach is crowded with incredibly young pregnant Russian girls and girls with babies, while some of these affluent daddies are in their fifties or older and their wives are in their twenties.
Some of these customers were revealed to be the subject of US government investigations, according to a Miami Herald investigation in the past. Russian money, according to experts in illicit funding, is what gave the city the moniker “Little Moscow.”
The Miami Herald reported in 2016 that the authorities were looking into at least 13 individual or corporate buyers in the Trump Towers, including a Russian-American organized a criminal gang and a Mexican banker accused of stealing investors.
Additionally, it was discovered that around 60% of the units are owned by shell corporations, which merely own real estate and have a history of money laundering.
More recently, experts told Michael Wilner of the Herald that Russians have spent years buying up houses along Florida’s southeast coast thanks to illegal financing.
They calculated that the wealthy Russians possessed more than $1 trillion in offshore accounts, much of which, they claimed, was disproportionately held in real estate in South Florida.
Sanctions have caused a slowdown in Russian real estate purchases in recent years.
According to Anna Nemtsova of the Daily Beast, several Russian law enforcement personnel were forced to sell their Sunny Isles Beach condominiums due to increased US sanctions following Moscow’s intervention in the US elections and travel restrictions on hundreds of wealthy Russians.
Bell, a Russian real estate salesperson, once said to Nemstova, “Russians can be easily recognized by their Bentleys and Rolls-Royces.” “However, sales have decreased this year. The Russian elite is having trouble leaving the nation with their money, and in this case the laws require full disclosure, the buyer’s name, and the money’s source.”
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