A yacht with an interesting story was detained in Sevastopol: it was stolen… in the Caribbean Sea

CrimeaPRESS reports:

In Sevastopol, customs officers stopped an attempt to illegally legalize a yacht stolen by a group of Russians in the Caribbean in the spring of 2019. According to the press service of the Sevastopol Customs, tourists from Russia were vacationing on the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, where they rented a motor-sailing yacht worth 30 million rubles from a foreign charter company. Overly savvy compatriots transported the ship to their homeland and registered the yacht using forged documents.

After this, the scammers established a business and began renting out the yacht, now under the Russian flag, for boat trips along the Russian and Turkish coasts of the Black Sea. It was then that the vehicle came to the attention of Sevastopol customs operatives.

The yacht was detained. The examination established that it has two identification numbers, one of which was applied in a homemade manner and is counterfeit. In addition, the ship was not declared and has the status of a foreign product. The amount of unpaid customs duties exceeded 8 million rubles.

A foreign company, the owner of the vehicle, confirmed the information about its theft. A criminal investigation has been opened by the Royal Antigua and Barbuda Police. The leader of a criminal gang is on the international wanted listreports the press service of Sevastopol customs.

Criminal cases have been initiated under Part 2 of Art. 194 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (evasion of customs duties) and 174 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (legalization of property acquired by criminal means). The investigation is ongoing.

Photo: press service of Sevastopol customs.

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