A multinational task force designed to seize the wealth of Russian oligarchs has blocked and frozen $ 30 billion in assets and funds of sanctioned individuals in its first 100 days of operation, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
That’s on confiscated yachts, other vessels and luxury real estate, as well as $ 300 billion in Russian central bank funds that have been immobilized, the department said.
“We continue to increase Russia’s price for its war,” the finance ministry told the REPO working group, which was cut short by Russian elites, proxies and oligarchs.
Read more: The United States will target Russian oligarchs in a aid package for Ukraine: Sumer
The program is designed to drain Russia of its resources as President Vladimir Putin continues its invasion of Ukraine, but civil rights activists have expressed concerns about potential overreaction.
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Finance Minister Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland convened the REPO working group in March, along with a number of other countries working together to investigate and prosecute oligarchs and others linked to Putin. The European Commission has set up its own working group on freezing and seizures to work with the REPO group.
The team worked to keep bank accounts, assets and property. For example, earlier this month, the United States announced sanctions against God Nisanov, one of Europe’s richest men, and Alexei Mordashov, one of Russia’s richest billionaires, along with his wife and two older children.
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“REPO members will continue to monitor Russian-sanctioned assets and prevent sanctioned Russians from undermining the measures that REPO members have jointly imposed,” the finance ministry said.
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As sanctions increase, there are growing fears that non-Americans are being confiscated outside the judicial review process, with major consequences for sanctioned individuals who may not be able to challenge the confiscations.
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Lawyer Tom Firestone, who specializes in international investigations of business clients, said the seizures “could have consequences for innocent people who have nothing to do with the war – we must be careful not to punish innocent people.”
“We have seen a huge expansion of sanctions,” Firestone said. “The US government has different goals. There is a lot of uncertainty about where everything is going. “
The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged bills – including a law passed by the House to seize assets to rebuild Ukraine – that would make confiscating Russian assets easier for the government.
The government said that in a wartime environment that gave rise to a global food crisis, “we seek to maximize the impact of sanctions on certain individuals and entities, while preventing spillovers that affect global commodity and food markets.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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