The Biden administration has formed a new 'KleptoCapture' task force to pursue Russian oligarchs
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Valery Sharifulin |
The Biden administration announced a new task force Wednesday to enforce sweeping sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies on Russian officials and oligarchs who have helped finance President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine.
The new task force will target "the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct," according to the FBI, Marshals Service, IRS, Postal Inspection, Homeland Security Investigations, and Secret Service.
To track down and prosecute those who violate the sanctions and seize assets, the task force will use a variety of tools, including cryptocurrency tracing.
"Oligarchs be warned: we will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who will oversee the new task force.
The new Department of Justice task force, dubbed Task Force KleptoCapture and teased by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, will seek to deprive Russian oligarchs of assets and other tools used to evade sanctions.
"The United States Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after Russian oligarchs' crimes," Biden said. "We're coming for your ill-gotten gains," said the president.
Russian billionaires' superyachts have been on the move since the United States and its allies hinted at possible sanctions against these types of properties.
CNBC previously reported that at least four massive yachts belonging to Russian business leaders were making their way to the Maldives and Montenegro. According to Nomad Capitalist, the Maldives does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
Since that report, one of the yachts has begun to move. According to Marine Traffic data, Vagit Alekperov, president of Russia-based Lukoil, sailed his yacht named Galactica Super Nova into a port in Montenegro.
However, it was last seen heading out to sea from the Montenegro docking area on Wednesday.
It was docked near a yacht named Trident, which is said to be owned by sanctioned Ukrainian oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyy, as of late Tuesday. The US State Department designated him last year, accusing Kolomoyskyy of "significant corruption." According to Marine Traffic, Kolomoyskyy's yacht has been docked in Montenegro since mid-February.
The Ukrainian billionaire has previously suggested that Ukraine should begin to align itself more with Russia, despite the fact that he helped finance Ukrainian fighters' equipment when they defended Crimea from the Russians in 2014.
After spending time in Hamburg, Germany, a massive yacht known to be owned by Putin is on its way to Kaliningrad, Russia's only year-round ice-free port on the Baltic Sea.
The task force is yet another step taken by the Biden administration in tandem with trans-Atlantic allies to hold Putin and complicit Russian elites accountable.
In a statement announcing the new unit, Attorney General Merrick Garland said, "The Justice Department will use all of its authorities to seize the assets of individuals and entities who violate these sanctions."
"We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those whose criminal acts allow the Russian government to continue this unjust war," Garland said.
The new task force was discussed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken with his Ukrainian counterpart on Wednesday, according to the State Department.
Correction: Kaliningrad is Russia's only year-round ice-free Baltic Sea port. An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the port.
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