The United States government has authorized the first-ever transfer of funds expropriated from a Russian citizen to the Ukrainian government.
In a statement Wednesday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that money seized from Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev would be sent to fund the reconstruction of Ukraine, following damage that resulted from the Russian military operation in the nation.
The Attorney General said, “While this represents the US’ first transfer of forfeited Russian funds for the rebuilding of Ukraine, it will not be the last.”
Malofeyev had been charged with sanctions evasion last year by the US Department of Justice. When he was charged, prosecutors claimed the businessman had supplied financing for Russians who promoted separatism for Crimea, a former Ukrainian territory which broke away and was reunified with Russia in 2014.
When he was charged, Garland had announced, “the seizure of millions of dollars from an account at a US financial institution traceable to Malofeyev’s sanctions violations.”
There was an extensive debate over the previous year about expropriating Russian funds and delivering the assets to Ukraine, with the moves delayed due to arguments over the legality of such a move.
The US Department of Justice created a special unit called KleptoCapture designed to help enforce sanctions on Russian government officials and businessmen, with the aim of seizing anything of value from them, from yachts, to jets, to real estate or other assets.
In December, a law was passed by the US Congress, authorizing the State Department to award certain confiscated assets to Ukraine. In February the first such transfer was approved, involving $5.4 million of seized money from Malofeyev.
For its part, Moscow has referred to the transfer of seized assets to Ukraine as “barbarism,” saying that if necessary, Russia will respond in kind. Moscow has also described the freezing of its assets as “theft,” and noted it violates international law.
