Nervous banks reportedly freeze a billion dollars in accounts owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg

Fearing U.S. sanctions, several Swiss banks have reportedly frozen roughly 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.01 billion) of the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg’s personal savings, a source in the Renova Group told Forbes Russia. Last week, the Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende reported that Swiss banks had frozen twice as much of Vekselberg’s money.

According to Forbes, UBS, Credit Suisse, and Julius Baer have taken action against Vekselberg. Even the Bank of Cyprus, 9.27 percent of which Vekselberg owns, might freeze his accounts, though Forbes was unable to verify this information.

According to Schweiz am Wochenende, Vekselberg is preparing to sue the Swiss banks and their staff for freezing his accounts, arguing that he opened them legally in Switzerland. The accounts are reportedly denominated in francs, not dollars.

According to Reuters, the U.S. government has frozen between $1.5 and $2 billion in assets owned by Vekselberg’s “Renova Group” conglomerate. Renova is reportedly seeking a government bailout in Russia, including the refinancing in state-owned banks (secured on Renova’s 26.5-percent stake in Rusal) of 820 million euros ($982 million) in loans from Western companies, preferential treatment with state contracts, and major tax breaks. The Kremlin has vowed to provide assistance to the companies hurt by Washington’s “oligarch” sanctions.