Washington: The US government announced Friday that it has charged two businessmen, one Russian and one British, for allegedly helping to facilitate a scheme to evade sanctions and a $90 million yacht owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg Money laundering charges have been filed in this regard.

Russian citizen Vladislav Osipov, 51, and British citizen Richard Masters, 52, were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and crimes against the United States, according to a statement from the US Justice. department.

According to the Justice Department, Spain was instructed to detain Masters in order to secure Masters' extradition. He was taken into custody on Friday and an arrest warrant for Osipov was still pending. Reuters was unable to contact representatives for Osipov and Masters for comment approved by Washington

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Vekselberg in 2022 over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and in 2018 over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US election. The Kremlin refers to its actions in Ukraine as a "special military operation" and denies interference in the election.

On behalf of the US authorities, Spanish police seized a Vekselberg superyacht last year. The 78-metre (255-foot) long "Tango" with an estimated market value of $90 million was detained at a shipyard on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.

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According to the indictment, when Vekselberg was sanctioned in April 2018, Tango's management was transferred to the Masters yacht management business in Spain. Masters is accused of conspiring with others to avoid sanctions.

The Justice Department claimed that Osipov, an employee of Vekselberg's, created a complex ownership structure of shell companies to conceal Vekselberg's ownership of the yacht.

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According to the US Treasury Department, which enforces the sanctions, Vekselberg was the owner of the Renova group of businesses, which operates in Russia's energy sector.