France to auction superyacht seized in money-laundering case

French authorities will put up for sale Thursday a superyacht seized in a money laundering case involving a Belarusian national, according to the state agency for handling confiscated assets.

The 41-meter (135-foot)-long boat, Stefania, will be auctioned at the shipyards of La Ciotat, a town located to the east of the southern port city of Marseille.

The vessel, built in 2021, is estimated at between 10 and 12 million euros ($10.8-$13 million), and the starting price has been set at 10 million euros.

The Stefania, which features an Art Deco interior, can accommodate up to 10 guests and up to six crew. It has a pool, a jacuzzi and a wood-burning fireplace.

"Many of the details, such as glass inlaid railings and a transparent flagpole, have never been seen on a yacht before," according to De Baecque, a firm conducting the auction.

The superyacht had been seized in 2023 during a stopover near Genoa in northwestern Italy at the request of French authorities.

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French police had been investigating "criminal activities" of Belarusian and Ukrainian nationals, according to the Marseille public prosecutor's office.

A probe had been launched into "arms trafficking, drug trafficking and money laundering by an organised gang," according to the public prosecutor's office.

Belarusian national Chaslau Koniukh has been identified by French authorities as the owner of the yacht as well as a villa on the French Riviera.

An analysis of "front companies and suspicious movements of funds from tax havens confirmed a desire to conceal the fraudulent origin of the funds used to purchase a sumptuous villa" in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, and the superyacht, according to the Marseille public prosecutor's office.

In May 2023, the villa, estimated at 10 million euros, was placed under judicial control. In October that year, the yacht, which flew the flag of the Cayman Islands and with a market value of 16.5 million euros at the time, was spotted in Italy before being seized.

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Another superyacht was seized at the shipyard at La Ciotat in 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The French government says the 86-metre vessel, Amore Vero, is linked to Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft and close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

An investigation is still ongoing.

Source: AFP