Pair charged with hiding Russian oligarch’s ties to yacht

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says two businessmen have been charged with trying to conceal a sanctioned Russian oligarch’s ownership of a luxury yacht seized in Spain last year by the U.S. government. An arrest warrant has been issued for Vladislav Osipov, a dual Russian and Swiss national. The Justice Department says he was an employee of Viktor Vekselberg, a billionaire Russian oligarch and ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Another defendant, Richard Masters, was arrested by Spain at the request of U.S. authorities. He’s a British businessman who ran a yacht management company in Palma de Mallorca, Spain — where Vekselberg’s yacht, Tango, was seized last April.