Russian Yachts Are Held in Harbors. What About Art in Secretive Free Ports?
Sanctioned oligarchs' bank accounts are frozen and their ships are stuck. There’s a lot of wealth tied up in fine art, too—although no one really knows where it is.
The exterior of the Geneva Freeport in Switzerland.
Source: MHM55
As sanctioned Russian oligarchs’ assets are detained or frozen around the world, many free ports—vast warehouses used by the super-rich to store art and valuables, tax-free—have stayed largely below the radar, at least for now.
Might that change if the sanctions ring continues to tighten? “I assume [questions] will come eventually,” says Fritz Dietl, president and founder of Delaware Freeport LLC, who says he has yet to be contacted by law enforcement agencies of any kind regarding assets potentially owned by sanctioned Russians. “But when it comes, and if it comes through the proper channels, then we’ll answer the authorities.”