Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine,
America and Europe have been trying to find a balance between
helping Ukraine whilst also avoiding going to war
with Russia themselves, because nobody wants World War III.
I mean, other than defense contractors and
those people who sell merch in the trenches.
But one of the weapons the West has been using against
Russia is sanctions.
Yes, which comes from the Latin, sanctio, meaning,
"To mess with someone else's shit."
Yeah, whether it's military, diplomatic, or financial,
the ultimate goal of these sanctions is to turn up
the pressure on Russia so that it ends
Ukraine's conservatorship and finally lets sets it free.
And one of the most significant sanctions America and Europe
have imposed is going after oligarchs.
Tonight, the U.S. is moving to tighten the squeeze
on Vladimir Putin and the oligarchs,
the richest Russians who surround him.
ANCHOR 2: The administration, along with Britain and Europe,
introducing a raft of sanctions targeting oligarchs
and their families, even President Putin.
ANCHOR 3: These tough new measures are designed to hurt
those closest to Putin.
Figures who, until now, have seemed untouchable,
now clear targets.
Britain's threat to the Russian oligarchs,
seven of them sanctioned, including Roman Abramovich,
the owner of the Chelsea Football Club.
That club can no longer sell tickets,
it can't sign new contracts, and it cannot be sold.
Italy seized an oligarch's $70 million yacht.
ANCHOR: French officials seized the Amore Vero,
about 280 feet long, with multiple V.I.P. suites,
and a pool that turns into a helipad."
Damn, that guy has a boat that has a pool
that turns into a helipad? Whew!
Do you know how rich a person has to be to have a
mode of transportation that carries another mode
of transportation and it sits on a body of water
while it carries a body of water? That's money.
I mean, think about it: a pool that turns into a helipad.
Wow.
The only thing better than that
would be a pool that stays a pool.
Yeah, maybe it's just me, but one of my favorite things
about relaxing in a pool is not worrying
if a helicopter's gonna land on me.
It's part of the pleasure I get.
But yes, Europe and America are handling Putin
the way you handle any breakup:
by blocking him and all his friends.
And you might be wondering,
well, the oligarchs didn't start the war.
They're not ordering troops to bomb hospitals,
so why are they being targeted by the sanctions?
Well, let's find out why in another installment
of If You Don't Know, Now You Know.
♪ ♪
So, first things first.
Who are the oligarchs?
And I know "oligarch" sounds like a creature
chasing Frodo in Middle-earth,
but it's actually just a fancy term
for a group of superrich billionaires in Russia.
But it's how these billionaires got that way
that makes them interesting.
NEWSWOMAN: After almost 70 years of Russian Communism
where the state controlled everything,
the Russian people saw huge political and economic change
practically overnight.
For a select few businessmen known as oligarchs,
they managed to rise to the top.
MAN: Soviet Union, uh,
all land and all property was owned by the state.
In the 1990s, it was privatized,
and the most valuable companies were...
landed in the hands of these businesspeople.
Uh, mostly oil and gas and mineral companies.
Under the Putin era, he took some of the assets
from the oligarchs who had made their money in the 1990s,
uh, and gave them to his friends.
NEWSWOMAN 2: A lot of money that is his,
he has basically handed over to oligarchs for safekeeping.
NEWSMAN: They include Yuri Kovalchuk.
The billionaire chairman of Bank Rossiya
is also the bank's largest shareholder
and has been called one of Putin's cashiers.
Arkady Rotenberg.
He grew up alongside Putin in St. Petersburg
and, for a time, was Putin's judo sparring partner.
NEWSMAN 2: Yevgeniy Prigozhin,
a secretive oligarch dubbed Putin's chef
because his company oversees catering
for the Kremlin and other state agencies.
Putin's cashier.
Putin's chef.
Putin's dog walker.
They call him that
because he walks Putin's dogs.
But yeah, essentially, uh, when the Soviet Union fell
and Communism ended in Russia,
a bunch of lucky dudes were just handed the keys
to entire industries
that used to be owned by the government,
and they became superrich.
Yeah. Those are the oligarchs.
And when Putin came to power a decade later,
a new generation of his buddies became oligarchs, too.
So, clearly, it pays to be Putin's friend.
I mean, sure, you're the one
who always has to take those shirtless horse pics,
but, I mean, in the end, you get an oil company.
"Yeah, make sure you get entire horse.
-And take a lot so I have options." -(shutter clicking)
But, still,
why sanction Putin's friends
over the war in Ukraine?
Well, it's because they're Putin's friends.
And that means that if you maybe,
maybe make their lives shittier,
maybe they'll try to talk some sense into him.
And let's be honest, man-- that's-that's life.
Rich people complaining is how shit always gets done.
That's how colonization happened.
Rich people were like, "My food has no flavor!"
And two days later, the British took over India.
Now, of course, to sanction these oligarchs,
America and Europe need to access their wealth.
That's a question, right?
I mean, how can you get to all of this Russian money?
Well, because, it turns out,
none of the money is actually in Russia.
MAN: Oligarchs around the Putin regime use Western countries,
Western banks, and Western jurisdictions as havens
for the wealth that they're stealing
from the people of Russia.
Billions and billions of dollars stolen
and then laundered through Western banks,
like Deutsche Bank, laundered through real estate
in Europe and the United States.
Russian oligarchs have long used New York City
as a place to park their cash
in the form of large apartment buildings,
often that sit empty.
Russian oligarchs have about as much money
in financial wealth stashed in offshore accounts
as the entire Russian population has in Russia.
That is, i-in many ways,
Russia's Achille's heel in all of this.
Suddenly now, governments suddenly start seizing hotels,
football teams, yachts, homes.
It will certainly get the attention
o-of the most powerful people in Russia,
by hitting them where it hurts.
That's right!
The oligarchs own shit everywhere.
Real estate in New York-- oligarch money.
Sports teams in Britain-- oligarch money.
That couch you're sitting on right now.
Well, I mean, you bought that, but...
check between the cushions.
There's some rubles in there.
And, look, man, I get why.
I get why these guys want to buy football teams in London
or luxury apartments in New York
or park their yachts in Saint-Tropez,
because, I mean, let's be honest,
spending money in Russia?
That isn't as much fun.
I mean, the yacht experience is just not the same
if you have to wear a bathing suit over your fur coat.
And, look, for a long time, it didn't matter
that these borscht ballers kept all their wealth in the West.
But that changed real quick when these sanctions
started getting passed. And now
they're all well aware that their assets
are in bigger danger than Mike Pence at a Trump rally.
Russian oligarchs are scrambling to secure their assets
as the U.S. works to enforce sanctions against
the ultra-rich surrounding President Vladimir Putin.
Here at the Plaza Hotel,
a $50 million Russian-owned apartment
is reportedly up for sale before it can be seized.
NEWSWOMAN: Oligarchs scrambling commercial-sized aircraft
to safe havens they hope will be beyond the reach
of U.S. and international law enforcement.
NEWSMAN: They are also moving their yachts.
Tracking data showing many of their largest vessels sailing
toward the Maldives, where they will be harder to seize.
NEWSMAN 2: Now, as pressure grows on the ultra-wealthy,
some oligarchs are starting to call publicly
for an end to the war.
We've counted up to eight billionaires
who have spoken publicly, which is really unprecedented.
This has never happened before.
Yeah, because of these sanctions
and because they're afraid of losing stuff,
a bunch of these oligarchs
are already speaking out against Putin's war.
(Russian accent): "Please, we must think of this war's impact
"on innocent children.
"That is the name of my yacht: Innocent Children.
She does not deserve this. Please, look at her."
(regular accent): But you can see how spooked these oligarchs
are, right? They're moving their planes,
they're sailing out to sea,
they're swallowing condoms full of gold.
And, like, I know all of this stuff is complicated,
but it does seem a little counter-productive that
these guys had enough warning to take all of these measures,
don't you think? Yeah, it's like giving your teenage son
a heads-up that a week from now,
you're gonna look through his Internet history.
And by the time you get there, all you're gonna find
is a Google search for
"why isn't there a second Mother's Day?" Aw.
But the real question is will putting pressure
on these oligarchs be enough to end this war?
Well, to help answer that,
we go to our very own Roy Wood Jr.,
who is reporting live from international waters.
-Roy, what is your reporting telling you? -♪ ♪
You know, Trevor, I've been hearing all this noise
about how evil and corrupt these oligarchs are,
but I've been doing some personal investigating,
and it turns out these oligarchs
are very decent, kind people. They're just good people.
Oh, more caviar.
Thank you, Oksana. Pasiba.
-Right. -Roy, are you on a superyacht right now?
That's right. I needed to investigate firsthand.
That's why I searched up and down this yacht
for dirt on these oligarchs, Trevor.
I looked in the massage parlors, I looked in the cigar lounge,
I looked in the casino, then back to the massage parlors.
Then, I was on the deck checking out the sunrise yoga.
Then, back to the massage parlors again.
I keep forgetting what we was talking about, man.
Damn, this is a nice-ass yacht, man. I tell you this much, boy.
-Roy! -It's a nice one, man.
-Roy? -Huh? What's up?
Hang-hang on a second, man. Oh, breakfast champagne.
Thank you, Oksana. You're on the ball. I like this.
Okay, Roy, Roy, do you see what's happening?
Your journalistic ethics have clearly been compromised, Roy.
Whoever's yacht this is has bribed you.
Bribed? What did you say to me?
Boy, I ought to slap you with my new Gucci shoes.
But I don't want to damage the soles.
They're made of seal skin.
-There are only two. -Roy, this is what oligarchs do.
Do you not understand? They use their money
to corrupt everyone around them
so that they can get away with their evil deeds.
Oh, so now it's evil to build a fortune
-on the back of a murderous regime? -Yeah!
And I know the next thing I know, you're gonna tell me
it's evil for them to launder dirty money all over the world,
driving up real estate costs and avoiding taxes
that could be used to help the Russian people?!
-Yeah. -And if I accept their dirty money
and allow their personal assistant Oksana
to rub me head to toe in truffle oil
in return for favorable coverage,
you're saying that I'm somehow complicit in this evil?
Yes, Roy!
Damn, I was hoping you would say "no," man.
This is some heavy shit. It's a lot to think about.
I better think about this over some dodo bird wings.
Oh, yeah, that's dodo right there.
-That's some good dodo bird right here. -Did he say...?
Wait. Aren't dodo birds extinct?
They are now, but it was worth it.
-You know what? That's enough, Roy. -Yeah. Hit me, baby.
I'm suspending your reporter license.
Just get back to America.