The U.S. seized $5.4 million from ‘Orthodox oligarch’ Konstantin Malofeyev and sent it to support Ukrainian veterans. Russia has now opened a criminal case over the confiscation.
Source: Russia's Investigative Committee
Russia’s Investigative Committee, the country’s main federal investigative agency, said it has opened a criminal case over U.S. authorities’ “misappropriation” of funds belonging to Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, founder of the Tsargrad channel. The “Orthodox oligarch” himself filed the complaint seeking an investigation.
The investigation concerns events in 2023, when U.S. authorities secured the seizure and confiscation of $5.4 million from an account at Sunflower Bank in Denver. Washington said Malofeyev had tried to transfer the money to a partner in violation of sanctions. Malofeyev said at the time that the funds had been frozen in 2014. The money was later transferred to the State Department to support Ukrainian veterans.
The confiscation was the first since the U.S. Justice Department established its KleptoCapture task force in 2022. The task force monitors compliance with sanctions against Russia and can temporarily freeze Russian nationals’ assets.
Malofeyev claims U.S. authorities seized $10 million and handed $5.4 million of it to “Ukrainian terrorists.” The Investigative Committee does not specify how much money it says was “illegally seized” and “misappropriated.” Investigators said the money was transferred to fund the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Malofeyev called the opening of the investigation an “unprecedented development.” He said the confiscation of his funds was “theft” by an “organized crime group” led by Joe Biden, the 46th U.S. president, and former Attorney General Merrick Garland. He also accused U.S. officials of splitting some of his seized funds among themselves.
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