US transfers $7.2m seized from Russian oligarch to fund for Ukraine reconstruction
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The money will be used to “remediate the harms of Russia’s unjust war”, said US Attorney-General Merrick Garland.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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WASHINGTON – The United States has for the first time transferred millions seized from a Russian oligarch to a fund for rebuilding Ukraine, the Justice Department announced on Wednesday.
Some US$5.4 million (S$7.2 million) seized from Russian tycoon Konstantin Malofeev
Malofeev, who built his fortune in banking, telecommunications and media, was indicted in April 2022 for violating sanctions related to the 2014 Russian-backed secession war in Ukraine’s Donbas region and its takeover of Crimea.
The US said Malofeev was a main source of funding for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Along with that indictment, the US government took control of US$5.4 million in Malofeev’s assets, mainly an investment he had made into a Texas bank.
The US has ordered the seizure of several Russian tycoons’ assets related to Russia’s 2014 actions and the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“While this represents the United States’ first transfer of forfeited Russian funds for the rebuilding of Ukraine, it will not be the last,” said Mr Garland. AFP
