[imagesource: OCCRP]

There is reason to believe that Vladimir Putin may possibly be the richest person in the world.

His exact personal wealth is tough to pin down for a variety of reasons, and many Russian oligarchs and billionaires are notoriously skilled at hiding their assets behind shell companies and other similar methods.

With sanctions against those connected to Putin in full swing (superyacht seizures are very in fashion), nonprofit the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has launched the Russian Asset Tracker.

Essentially, it’s a database that can be used to track the assets of prominent Russians with links to Putin, reports CNN:

The tool is interactive and displays the “vast wealth held outside Russia by oligarchs and key figures close” to the Russian president.

The investigative project uncovered more than 150 assets worth about $17 billion combined, including property, private planes, company stock, yachts, mansions and more. Journalists discovered these assets by combing through land records, corporate registries and offshore leaks…

Image: Russian Asset Tracker

The project launched with “a list of 35 individuals named last year by the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny as ‘key enablers and beneficiaries of the Kremlin’s kleptocracy.'”

I decided to take a look at arguably the most high-profile of all those sanctioned, Roman Abramovich.

Each person’s entry has a section titled ‘Reason for inclusion’:

A power player in Russia since the late 1990s, the oligarch is a former member of parliament and was the governor of the Chukotka region from 2000 to 2008.

As one of Russia’s richest people, he made his fortune buying up Russian oil assets during the privatization wave that followed the end of the Soviet Union. Before he was sanctioned in March 2022, his net worth was reported to be $12.3 billion.

There’s then a breakdown of their various assets:

That $90 million estate in Antibes looks nice. Each asset comes with an explanation of how they know it’s connected to the person in question.

Abramovich’s most valuable asset appears to be Chelsea Football Club, valued just north of $2,5 billion, and his property portfolio in the surrounding area is staggering.

The website is run in conjunction with The Guardian, which lays out why a tracker like this is valuable:

…our journalists have pieced together data from a number of sources from the last six years, including offshore leaks published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, and reports of suspicious banking transactions contained in the FinCEN files.

It is not illegal to hold wealth offshore, and there are legitimate reasons for doing so, such as privacy. However, the data we have examined shows banks have at times raised questions about unexplained wealth or the origin of funds passing through accounts.

Our research has extended to relatives and associates, because in some cases their wealth derives almost entirely from the person under sanctions. Including family gives a more complete picture of the scale of the fortune. In other cases, they could be used to hide or disperse assets – with wives holding shares on behalf of husbands, or trusted enablers acting as nominees.

Such a list puts pressure on governments, especially that of the UK, to ensure sanctions are carried out effectively.

If you have some time to spare, I’d recommend a snoop around here.

At the very least, it reminded me to buy lottery tickets for the upcoming week.

[sources:cnn&russianassettracker&guardian]