Russian Oligarch Sees His Bulletproof Mercedes-Maybach Seized in Italy

The world has been slamming Russia and those linked to president Vladimir Putin with sanctions since the war started in Ukraine. Now a Russian oligarch could only watch the Italian authorities seizing his bulletproof Mercedes-Maybach S-Class.

Russian billionaire, mining and telecoms tycoon, also a former shareholder of Arsenal London soccer club and one of Vladimir Putin’s main supporters, Alisher Usmanov used to own a Mercedes-Maybach S 650 as well. Italian newspaper Corriere de la Sera reports that the car is now under the control of the authorities.

The authorities have impounded the black Mercedes-Maybach S 650 with VR10 protection level in Sardinia, an island in the Mediterranean Sea.

The 5-tonne Maybach is worth approximately 600,000 euros or around $670,000, Business Insider reports. It came with 10-centimeter thick windows and armor plating and is supposedly capable to protect occupants from bullets and explosives.

According to L’Unione Sarda, a real-estate complex in the Gulf of Pevero, worth 17 million euros (approximately $19 million) and six corporate vehicles are also in the hands of the authorities now.

The European Union Council found that Usmanov had “particularly close ties” to Vladimir Putin. The Russian dictator has reportedly used this exact Maybach during his journeys to the island that is considered a paradise for Russian billionaires.

The Mercedes-Maybach, not the only property of Usmanov that the authorities seized this past month

To protect his assets against the sanctions that he has been the target of, he started transferring them into irrevocable trusts, a spokesperson for Usmanov reported, according to The Guardian. Several luxury cars and mansions, in the United Kingdom, all worth over $223,224,000, are on the list.

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has also tracked a $350 million private jet and helicopter deregistered from the Isle of Man, sanctioned by the UK. The 512-ft $600-million superyacht Dillbar, that used to belong to the same Russian oligarch, has been seized in Germany.