Russian oligarch indicted on charges of US sanction violations News
© WikiMedia (Lous Whinston)
Russian oligarch indicted on charges of US sanction violations

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday announced that Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev was charged with violating US sanctions that were imposed in 2014 for his role in undermining democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine. 

Malofeyev was sanctioned under Executive Order 13660. Under the order, individuals responsible for or complicit in the undermining of the peace, security, and sovereignty of Ukraine would have their US property blocked. In 2014, the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) found Malofeyev was a source of financing for Russian separatism in Crimea and provided material support for the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Russian separatist organization in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York unsealed the indictment on Wednesday. Malofeyev was charged with conspiracy to violate the US sanctions and actual violations of the sanctions, connected with his hiring of John Hanick to operate television networks in Russia and Greece. Hanick was the first person to be criminally indicted for violating sanctions stemming from the 2014 Russian interference in democratic processes in Ukraine. Malofeyev also allegedly conspired with Hanick to illegally transfer $10 million in a US bank to a business associate in Greece.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated:

When we announced the launch of the KleptoCapture Task Force last month, I said we would leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable Russia to continue its unjust war in Ukraine. That is a promise we are keeping . . . Today, we are assisting international efforts to identify and hold accountable those responsible for atrocities in Ukraine. And we will continue to do so.

The two sanctions charges in the indictment could result in a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment. Malofeyev is currently believed to be in Russia, although he remains at large.

The US and other countries have also recently imposed or reinforced sanctions on other Russian oligarchs. On March 29, a federal appeals court rejected Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s appeal to lift sanctions imposed on him by the US in 2018. On April 4, Spanish and US authorities seized a 254-foot yacht owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg from a Spanish marina.