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According to court filings, federal prosecutors in New York said Wednesday that they were attempting to confiscate more than $5.3 million from a US bank account linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.
We recently singled out Malofeyev in a series of penalties aimed at Russia for its war in Ukraine. The US announced penalties on April 20 against a major commercial bank and “a global network of more than 40 individuals and businesses managed by US-designated Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.”
The US Treasury Department announced at the time that it was also pursuing “businesses involved in Russia’s virtual currency mining industry, which is purportedly the world’s third-largest,” noting that it was the first time it had “identified a virtual currency mining corporation.”
According to a Treasury release from the time, Malofeyev was sanctioned in December 2014 for funding “separatist activities in eastern Ukraine” and for his ties to “Aleksandr Borodai, Igor Girkin (a.k.a. Igot Strelkov), and the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, which have all been previously sanctioned as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs).”
In April, the US Department of Justice announced its first criminal accusations against Malofeyev since the beginning of Russia’s war in Ukraine, accusing him of attempting to evade sanctions.
On April 20, the US sanctioned Malofeyev once more “for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly,” the Russian government. In addition, members of Malofeyev’s “huge global network of cut-outs and proxies to try to circumvent sanctions and undertake malign influence activities,” including those active in pro-Kremlin propaganda, were also sanctioned by the Treasury Department.
Russia, Moldova, Singapore, and a number of Russian individuals, including Malofeyev’s son, have all been sanctioned.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the United States and other Western countries have levied unprecedented sanctions. Putin maintains the invasion is a “special military operation” aimed at disarming and de-radicalizing Ukraine. Putin’s allegation, according to Ukraine and its supporters, is an obvious justification for an aggressive attack.
The US has increased sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, with key Russian government officials and corporate executives with close ties to President Vladimir Putin among those targeted.
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An oligarch who owns a large steel firm, a yacht management company, the country’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, and a cellist who, according to the US Treasury Department, operates as a middleman for Russian President Vladimir Putin are among those named.
