It’s not just the yachts. Russian Oligarchs also sail their money around the world, like pirates looking for a place to stash their ill-begotten booty, and they often find businesses and organizations all-too happy to be left holding the money bag. These uber-wealthy dirtbags who have ripped off the Russian people and benefit from the key tenet of Putinism (Vlad gets to lead how he wants, they get to stay rich beyond belief) need to find places to sink their dough because they’ve always known that the Russian economy was being directed into a bottomless ditch. So they invest in other countries. And they grease the skids by donating big bucks to top institutions. “Among the many beneficiaries are such storied institutions as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Mayo Clinic and the Guggenheim Museum, the research shows – a reflection of how deeply money from Russian oligarchs has penetrated American society.” Russian oligarchs have donated millions to U.S. charities, museums and universities.

+ “While real estate might seem like the world’s most local industry, these luxury condos weren’t exclusively built for locals. They were also made for foreigners with tens of millions of dollars to spare. Developers bet huge on foreign plutocrats—Russian oligarchs, Chinese moguls, Saudi royalty—looking to buy second (or seventh) homes.” Last year, we learned why so many NYC high rises were empty even though the city had a housing shortage. Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Launder.

+ The latest complexity added to the world of money laundering and sanctions avoidance: Crypto. Nick Bilton in Vanity Fair: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Puts Cryptocurrencies at the Heart of War.