Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Skoch's time as the official owner of his Airbus A319-100, believed to be somewhere in Kazakhstan, seems to be drawing to a close. Authorities believe he attempted to evade the sanction by maintaining ownership of the plane through a complex web of various shell companies and trusts – a typical practice for those who own such large assets as giant private planes and superyachts. The latter includes the $156 million superyacht Madame Gu, pictured below, currently docked somewhere in the United Arab Emirates, which authorities are also seeking to seize from Skoch (as a neutral party in the Russian war against Ukraine, the UAE has become something of a safe haven for property of Russian oligarchs like Skoch).

Hugh Peterswald/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Andrew C. Adams is the director of the task force looking to seize the assets of sanctioned Russian billionaires, and he gave a statement to the AP saying that such ownership tricks are ultimately ineffective:

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

"Once again U.S. law enforcement has demonstrated that international shell games will not suffice to hide the fruits of corruption and money laundering."

Skoch's net worth of $8.7 billion makes him one of the wealthiest people serving in Russia's Duma, their version of parliament. As of this writing, Skoch has not commented publicly on the sanctions, or on US officials' efforts to seize his plane or yacht.