The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control recently sanctioned key networks that have reportedly been used by Russian elites to hide money and move funds anonymously in order to support and maintain luxury assets around the world. Towards this end, on June 1, 2022 OFAC identified several yachts and aircraft associated with certain Russian elites, including President Vladimir Putin, and designated a Kremlin-aligned yacht brokerage, several prominent Russian officials, and Sergei Roldugin, a money-manager and custodian of Putin’s offshore wealth. These actions were taken by OFAC pursuant to EO 14024 (Blocking Property With Respect to Specified Harmful Foreign Activities of the Government of the Russian Federation), EO 13685 (Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine), and EO 13661 (Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine) and will further align the US with its international partners and allies.
The OFAC designations were coordinated with Russian-related sanctions imposed by the US Department of State and US Department of Commerce on the same day. The State Department sanctioned five Russian oligarchs and elites along with their family members and associated entities, including the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the leader of Severgroup who is also one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, while the Commerce Department added 71 Russian and Belarussian parties to the Entity List in an effort to further restrict Russia’s ability to obtain technologies and other items for its military.
As a result of today’s OFAC designations, all property and interests in property of these designees within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving the designated persons. In addition, entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Department of Treasury Press Release