U.S. Seizes More Than Half Billion Dollars In Russian Assets

Washington D.C./20.04.23/Turan:    The U.S. Justice Department has seized more than half a billion dollars in assets from Russian oligarchs and others who unlawfully support the Russian regime and evade U.S. economic countermeasures, a senior Biden administration official said on Wednesday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"We’ve indicted over 30 individuals accused of sanctions evasion, export control violations, money laundering, and other crimes," U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In the meantime, she said, the department is only able to seize and transfer Russian assets that came from certain types of sanctions evasion. "We are leaving money on the table if we don't expand our ability to use the forfeited access that we gain from enforcement of our export control violations," she  said, adding that the administration wants "Congress to give us that authority so we can make the oligarchs pay for rebuilding Ukraine."

For over a year now, Russia "has deliberately and unilaterally inflicted horror upon Ukrainians. Its brutal, unprovoked, and unlawful invasion of Ukraine poses a serious threat to global peace and stability," Deputy Attorney General said.

She went on to add, "The facts... are clear: Russia has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. We cannot—we will not—let war criminals escape accountability for the aggression and atrocities they have committed."

The U.S. Justice Department has "a clear message" as she put it,  "for those who have committed these crimes and who think they can get away it: You will face justice!"

Alex Raufoglu