WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced the creation of a task force on Wednesday to go after billionaire oligarchs who have aided President Vladimir V. Putin in his invasion of Ukraine, part of an effort by the United States to seize and freeze the assets of those who have violated sanctions.The task force will marshal the resources of various federal agencies to enforce the sweeping economic measures that the United States has imposed as Russia continues its unprovoked assault on Ukraine.“We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.The task force will be overseen by Lisa O. Monaco, the deputy attorney general. Andrew C. Adams, a veteran corruption prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, will run the day-to-day operations, according to multiple people briefed on his new role who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose his name.The announcement of the task force came after President Biden used his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to put Russian oligarchs on notice, declaring that the administration was “joining with European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets.”It is unclear how successful the Justice Department will be in pursuing wealthy Russians, but the department typically establishes task forces in a bid to underline its priorities and incentivize prosecutors to bring cases.“Catastrophic events, like 9/11 or the invasion of Ukraine, often prompt the government to take stock of the full menu of its enforcement tools to address a singular threat to international security,” said David H. Laufman, a partner at Wiggin and Dana who oversaw the enforcement of U.S. sanctions laws as a Justice Department official during the Obama and Trump administrations. “That’s what the Biden administration is doing here.”The creation of the task force, known as KleptoCapture, adds to the raft of actions that Western leaders have taken in recent days in an effort to undercut Mr. Putin and the politically connected elite in Russia who are believed to have close ties to him. By leveling potentially crippling sanctions on Russia’s financial institutions and beginning to freeze trillions of dollars in assets controlled by Moscow and by oligarchs, the United States and its allies hope to push Mr. Putin to withdraw from Ukraine.The Biden administration has penalized several Russian entities, including the country’s main development and military banks, one of its sovereign wealth funds and a subsidiary of the state-controlled energy giant Gazprom. It has sought to freeze Mr. Putin’s assets as well as those of his foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and other Russian national security officials. And it has curbed purchases of Russian sovereign bonds, barred some Russian banks from Western financial markets and cut off Russia’s access to certain foreign technology products.ImageThe Biden administration has sought to freeze the assets of Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, right.Credit...Pete Marovich for The New York TimesThe European Union and Britain have taken similar punitive measures and also have banned some military-related exports to Russia. But Russia has forged ahead with its onslaught of attacks in Ukraine.Live Updates: Russia-Ukraine War
Updated March 2, 2022, 6:31 p.m. ETVladimir Potanin, a Russian oligarch, steps down as a trustee of the Guggenheim Museum.High-speed trains departing Russia for Finland are packed.Seeking to avoid increasing tensions with Russia further, the U.S. delays a missile launch.The creation of the task force reflects the harsh scrutiny cast on Russian oligarchs, many of whom built their fortunes because of their ties to Mr. Putin. Even though they may not be directly involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they enable Mr. Putin by helping him conceal his own assets and remain in power.Russia’s oligarchs have invested their fortunes in assets around the world, and their ties to Mr. Putin have helped them gain influence and connections in the worlds of fine art, real estate, Wall Street and Silicon Valley.Some of Russia’s elite are reportedly rushing to sell their assets to shield them from seizure, presumably in anticipation of sanctions. One of the country’s most prominent oligarchs, Roman Abramovich, said on Wednesday that he would sell Chelsea, the Premier League soccer team.Russia-Ukraine War: Key Things to Know
Card 1 of 4A city is captured.Russian troops gained control of Kherson, the first Ukrainian city to be overcome during the war. The overtaking of Kherson is significant as it allows By: Katie Benner
Title: Justice Dept. Announces Task Force to Go After Russian Oligarchs
Sourced From: www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/us/politics/justice-dept-russia-oligarchs.html
Published Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2022 23:36:06 +0000
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