On December 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment charging Russian citizen Alexey Komov for conspiring with others to help Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev evade U.S. sanctions. In December 2014, Malofeyev was designated pursuant to Executive Order 13660 for playing a significant role in financing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Komov has been charged in the Southern District of New York with one count of violating the International Emergency Economic Power Act (“IEEPA”) and one count of conspiracy to violate the IEEPA.
According to the indictment, Komov conspired with Malofeyev to hire American citizen Jack Hanick, who allegedly worked as a NY-based cable television network producer, to launch and produce a Russian television news network for Malofeyev. Komov allegedly travelled to New York to enable Malofeyev to directly negotiate with Hanick regarding his salary, payments for his housing in Russia, and his Russian work visa. Komov also allegedly conspired with Malofeyev, Hanick and others to illegally transfer a shell company owned by Malofeyev to a business associate in Greece – a shell company that was also purportedly used to help Malofeyev make a $10 million investment in a bank holding company based on Texas.
In 2022, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Malofeyev and Hanick with U.S. sanctions violations for their roles in the conspiracy. According to the DOJ, Malofeyev and Komov are fugitives from justice who are believed to be in Russia. In 2022, Hanick was arrested in London in connection with these charges and is awaiting extradition to the United States. Hanick was charged with violating the IEEPA and for making false statements about the work he performed for Malofeyev when he questioned by the FBI in 2021. The case against Hanick continues.