The US Prosecutor's Office confiscates 5,4 million dollars in favor of Ukraine, belonging to the Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev, who has been subject to sanctions.
This is the first decision of the US court regarding the confiscated funds, which opens the way for the potential use of the funds of sanctioned oligarchs for the restoration of war-ravaged Ukraine - reports edition Reuters.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Gardef in Manhattan federal court was the first order to seize the assets of a Russian oligarch since the U.S. Department of Justice in 2022 created a task force to develop tools to seize the finances of allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
At the end of 2022, US President Joe Biden signed a law that allows the Ministry of Justice to transfer part of the State Department's confiscated assets to help Ukraine.
The United States accused Malofeev, the owner of the Tsargrad information resource, of financing separatists in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Malofeev, who has denied funding the separatists, was sanctioned by Washington in 2014 and accused of violating sanctions in 2022.
Andrew Adams, head of the Justice Department's KleptoCapture task force, said last month that the first seized funds could soon be transferred to Ukraine.
"These sums are small, compared to the cost of the disaster caused by Russia to the people and land of Ukraine, but the contribution is important." Adams said.
In court documents late last year, prosecutors said they were entitled to money from Malofeev's accounts at Sunflower Bank in Denver because he tried to transfer it to a business associate in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Because Malofeev did not contest the forfeiture request, prosecutors said Thursday that the funds should be forfeited by default.
The KleptoCapture task force has temporarily seized the assets of other oligarchs, including a $300 million yacht, but has yet to receive orders to confiscate them.
Information resource "Tsargrad" constantly publishes negative and provocative articles not only against Ukraine, but also Kazakhstan and Kazakhs. Malofeev himself has been under Western sanctions since 2014, and internationally wanted since 2017.
