DOJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint Dec. 2 in the U.S. District Court for Southern District of New York, seeking the proceeds from the sale of a California music studio that are allegedly beneficially owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The complaint alleges that the proceeds, totaling $3.4 million, "are the proceeds of sanctions violations."
A dual U.S.-Russian citizen was arrested Dec. 2 for trying to export two small aircraft to Russia, said DOJ, which also seized the aircraft.
A bipartisan, bicameral group of four lawmakers announced Nov. 25 the introduction of a bill to create a State Sponsor of Unlawful or Wrongful Detention (SSWD) designation, which would allow the State Department to impose sanctions and other penalties on countries that wrongfully detain Americans.
Although President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle the federal bureaucracy in Washington, a key architect of recent DOJ export control and sanctions initiatives believes those efforts will echo through the next administration.
The U.S. Helsinki Commission, also known as the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, plans to hold a hearing Dec. 5 to examine how Belarus has aided Russia’s war against Ukraine through sanctions evasion and other means.
Recently passed U.K. legislation gives the country’s top sanctions agency greater intelligence-gathering and enforcement powers, Crowell & Moring said in a November client alert, and could allow it to process license applications more efficiently.
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The leaders of the House Select Committee on China said Nov. 25 that they have asked for a briefing on how the Treasury Department is responding to Hong Kong’s growing role in sanctions evasion.
The U.K. added two financial services companies to its Russia sanctions regime on Nov. 25. Alfastrakhovanie and VSK were listed for operating in the Russian financial services sector, which is a "sector of strategic significance to the Government of Russia," OFSI said.
The EU is expecting European parent companies working in certain sensitive sectors to take “substantial actions” to make sure their non-EU subsidiaries aren’t helping Russia or Belarus evade sanctions, regardless of the size of the parent company, the EU said in new guidance.