US allocates $5.4 million confiscated from Russian oligarch to help rebuild Ukraine

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin reported on Feb. 3 that the U.S. had authorized “the first-ever transfer of the confiscated assets in the amount of $5.4 million for rebuilding Ukraine.”

The transfer was also announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland following his meeting with Kostin in the U.S., as reported by CNN.

“These forfeited assets follow the announcement I made last April of the indictment of designated Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev on charges of sanctions evasions,” Garland said.

Malofeyev, the owner of Tsargrad TV channel, has been accused of funding Russian proxies in Russian-occupied Crimea in 2014.

In December 2022, the U.S. Senate approved an amendment allowing the transfer of seized assets belonging to Russian oligarchs to the people of Ukraine.

A civil forfeiture complaint against Malofeyev was first filed in the U.S. on Nov. 30, 2022, in a move to target individuals with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. announced sanctions which targeted over 40 individuals and entities associated with Malofeyev, earlier in April 2022. Back then, the sanctions included “organizations whose primary mission is to facilitate sanctions evasion for Russian entities.”

“Delighted to see the new legislation aimed at seizing the Russian oligarchs’ illicit assets in action,” Kostin wrote on Twitter on Feb. 3.