The Amaryllis being towed past the former mansion of Henry Flagler, built in 1902
By John Jannarone and Alan Hatfield
The 257’ superyacht Amaryllis apparently owned by exiled Russian oligarch Andrey Borodin was towed past Palm Beach, FL on Friday morning, according to a visual account by CorpGov.
The yacht, whose owner is frequently cited as Mr. Borodin by enthusiast publications, moved slowly through the Lake Worth lagoon where bridges were raised for its passage. A towboat with flashing lights about 150 feet ahead pulled the Amaryllis, built by German shipyard Abeking & Rasmussen in 2011.
While CorpGov could not officially confirm Mr. Borodin as the owner of the vessel, his wife, socialite Tatiana Korsakova, has posted dozens of Instagram photos and videos aboard the Amaryllis. A yacht broker interviewed by CorpGov confirmed that Ms. Korsakova is indeed aboard the Amaryllis in the photos and videos.
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The sighting comes as billions of dollars in Russian-owned yachts have been seized around the world as a result of international sanctions. CNN has published an extensive list of seized vessels, which were taken in harbor cities including Mallorca, Spain and London.
However, it is unclear if the Amaryllis was being seized or voluntarily towed. Very large yachts often choose to be towed because bridges are required to raise for them, according to the yacht broker.
The former Bank of Moscow chief was granted political asylum in the UK in February 2013 after fleeing what he alleged to be politically-motivated fraud and embezzlement charges. Mr. Borodin would go on to be tried and convicted in abstentia in Russian Court in 2018, but not before managing to enlist a number of prominent American lawmakers to lobby Washington for a U.S. visa. Despite Russian extradition requests to the UK government, Borodin’s controversial attempts to make large donations to the NHS, and the uncovering of an assassination plot against his life, the fugitive banker remains overseas, having been granted access to his Swiss bank accounts and having made several notable London real estate purchases during his time in exile.
Mr. Borodin is widely listed as a billionaire, but his total wealth remains difficult to confirm accurately, with the governments of Switzerland and the Bahamas having been asked to help the Russian government in its legal case. In 2012, Borodin purchased the UK’s then-most expensive home, an 80-hectare 18th-century estate in Oxfordshire, for upwards of $217 million. In 2017 he was granted access to personal Swiss accounts holding a reported $378 million. The Amaryllis was purchased for a reported $120 million.
Mr. Borodin did not immediately respond to an emailed query from CorpGov, while the FBI declined to comment. An emailed query to The Department of Homeland Security was not returned.
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