US federal prosecutors have seized $5.4 million from a US bank account belonging to Russian businessman Konstanin Malofeyev, a judge ruled on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2023) US federal prosecutors have seized $5.4 million from a US bank account belonging to Russian businessman Konstanin Malofeyev, a judge ruled on Thursday.
The US government had accused Malofeyev of financing Russian separatists in Crimea and in the Donetsk People's Republic, according to court documents.
The ruling by US District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan is the first such forfeiture order for a Russian businessman's assets since the Justice Department announced in 2022 a task force assigned to corral the finances belonging to allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly in a response to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
The US government has alleged that Malofeyev used a shell company to invest $10 million in a Texas-based bank in March 2015 before selling the company for $1 to a business partner the following year. The attempted transfer was flagged by the bank, which forwarded the transaction to the Treasury Department, where the money was deposited into an account of a blocked bank.
Malofeyev, who owns the Christian Orthodox television channel Tsargrad TV, has denied financing separatists and is believed to currently be at large in Russia.
The US government sanctioned Malofeyev in 2014 and charged him last year with violating the sanctions regime imposed against Russia.
