WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Thursday announced a series of arrests and indictments against Russian businessmen and their brokers in five separate federal cases spanning New York, Florida, Georgia and the District of Columbia.
The action coincided with the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
In New York, the charges against sanctioned Russian banker Andrei Kostin and two of his US-based enablers were unveiled. The facilitators, Vadim Wolfson and Gannon Bond, were arrested on Thursday.
Kostin has been president of VTB Bank, a state-owned bank and Russia’s second largest, for many years. He is accused of involvement in a scheme to circumvent sanctions and launder money in support of two superyachts. Kostin and the two enablers are also accused of evading sanctions related to a luxury home in Aspen, Colorado.
Michael Khoo, co-director of the department’s KleptoCapture Task Force, said on a call with reporters that the announcement was intended to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “we are not leaving” and “we can stay for a long time.” to play”. game too” as long as the war continues.
The KleptoCapture Task Force enforces economic restrictions within the US imposed on Russia and its billionaires.
The Justice Department says it has obtained court orders for the seizure, confiscation and forfeiture of nearly $700 million in assets over the past two years and has charged more than 70 people with violating sanctions and export controls.
“The Department of Justice is more committed than ever to cutting off the flow of illicit funds fueling Putin’s war and holding accountable those who continue to enable it,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement.
“That is why today we are announcing several additional enforcement actions that the Department of Justice has taken to prosecute and seize assets of sanctioned Kremlin enablers and the Russian military.”
Also Thursday, an indictment was unsealed in Washington, D.C., accusing Vladislav Osipov of bank fraud in connection with operating a 255-foot luxury yacht owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Osipov, a Russian citizen, lives in Switzerland.
The indictment identifies the superyacht as the Tango, the first property of a sanctioned Russian with close ties to the Kremlin that was seized at the request of the US government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In Florida, Serhiy Kurchenko, a sanctioned pro-Russian Ukrainian metals magnate, was charged, among other things, with attempting to evade sanctions. Also in Florida, a civil forfeiture complaint was filed against two luxury apartments in Bal Harbor owned by sanctioned Russian businessman Viktor Perevalov, co-owner of a Russia-based construction company.
And in Georgia, Feliks Medvedev pleaded guilty earlier this month to helping launder more than $150 million through bank accounts he controls. Medvedev, a Russian citizen, lives in Buford, Georgia.
