U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced today that a civil forfeiture complaint has been filed against six luxury real estate properties owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg worth approximately $75 million.
The complaint alleges that the properties, located in New York, New York, Southampton, New York, and Fisher Island, Florida, are the proceeds of sanctions violations and were involved in international money laundering in promotion of sanctions violations committed by, among others, Vladimir Voronchenko, a/k/a “Vladimir Vorontchenko,” who was indicted on February 7, 2023.
According to the allegations in the Complaint, Vekselberg was designated as a Specially Designated National (“SDN”) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) on April 6, 2018, in connection with its finding that the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation in Ukraine constituted an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
Between 2008 and 2017, Vekselberg, through a series of shell companies, acquired six real properties in the United States, specifically, (i) two apartments on Park Avenue in New York City, (ii) a property in Southampton, New York, and (iii) a property in Fisher Island, Florida. The properties were allegedly used to funnel millions of dollars into the United States to evade sanctions.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, in conjunction with Task Force KleptoCapture and law enforcement agencies, has taken action to forfeit the properties and make them available for aid to Ukraine under the newly enacted law.
“Today’s action, filed on the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, seeks forfeiture of six luxury properties owned by Vekselberg that his associate Vladimir Voronchenko maintained by funneling millions of dollars into the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
Task Force KleptoCapture Director Andrew C. Adams stated, “Strawmen, corrupt professionals, and shell companies may be the hallmarks of money laundering and sanctions evasion, but they are obstacles that diligent, dedicated investigators and prosecutors will surmount.”
Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), said, “For years, Russia’s weaponization of corruption has relied on opaque legal structures – and Western enablers – to move, hide, and spend stolen wealth, enriching its oligarchs and ultimately resourcing the war in the Ukraine.”
FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Maged Behnam stated, “The mission of the interagency Task Force KleptoCapture is to enforce sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures imposed by the United States in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine one year ago.”
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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