Task Force KleptoCapture is a

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

unit established in March 2022 with the goal of enforcing sanctions on

Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs (Russian language, Russian: олигархи, Romanization of Russian, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the Post-Soviet states, former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Priv ...

s in response to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Background

Dating back to the outbreak of the pro-Russian unrest in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, the United States has imposed numerous

economic sanctions Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they may ...

against the Russian government, military, and strategic sectors of the economy for its actions. Following the

in February 2022, the United States imposed new sanctions against Russia. Existing sanctions were also strengthened. During his

State of the Union Address The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...

that same year, U.S. President Joe Biden announced this effort: The day after Biden's speech,

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

Merrick B. Garland announced the formation of Task Force KleptoCapture, an inter-agency effort.

Structure

The leader of the Task Force was initially described as "a veteran corruption prosecutor" from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York assigned to the

U.S. Deputy Attorney General The United States deputy attorney general is the second-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice and oversees the day-to-day operation of the Department. The deputy attorney general acts as attorney general during the ...

's Office. On March 3, 2022, this prosecutor was revealed as Andrew Adams, who has previously worked as co-chief of the Southern District of New York's Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises. His previous work includes the prosecutions of

thief in law A “thief in law” (Russian: вор в зако́не, Georgian: კანონიერი ქურდი), in the Soviet Union, the post-Soviet states, and respective diasporas abroad is a specifically granted formal and special status of " ...

Razhden Shulaya as well as the asset forfeiture case against

Bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

money launderer

Charlie Shrem Charles Shrem IV (born November 25, 1989)Max Raskin“Meet the Bitcoin Millionaires,”''Bloomberg Businessweek'', April 10, 2013. is an American entrepreneur and bitcoin advocate. He co-founded the now-defunct startup company BitInstant, and is ...

. Others announced as part of the DOJ's team include deputy directors from the

United States Department of Justice National Security Division The United States Department of Justice National Security Division (NSD) handles national security functions of the department. Created by the 2005 USA PATRIOT Act reauthorization, the division consolidated all of the department's national securi ...

and

United States Department of Justice Criminal Division United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

leading more than a dozen attorneys from those divisions, as well as the Tax Division, Civil Division, and

U.S. Attorneys United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

’ Offices across the country. The attorneys listed on KleptoCapture court filings are some of the most experienced prosecutors in the Justice Department. In addition, was also announced as incorporating officials from the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

United States Marshals Service The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforceme ...

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

United States Postal Inspection Service The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enfor ...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration tha ...

, and

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...

. The main goal of the task force is to impose the sanctions set against these Russian individuals to freeze and seize the assets that the U.S. government claimed were proceeds of their illegal involvement with the Russian government and the invasion of Ukraine.

Activities

On March 11, 2022, United States President Joseph R. Biden signed , "Prohibiting Certain Imports, Exports, and New Investment With Respect to Continued Russian Federation Aggression," an order of economic sanctions prohibiting the trade in luxury goods. In tandem, the Treasury specifically designated assets of

Viktor Vekselberg Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg (russian: Виктор Феликсович Вексельберг, uk, Віктор Феліксович Вексельберг; born April 14, 1957) is a Ukrainian-born Russian–Israeli-Cyprus oligarch, billion ...

worth an estimated $180 million: an Airbus A319-115 jet and the

motoryacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

''Tango''. Estimates of the value of the ''Tango'' range from $90 million (

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

estimate) to $120 million (from the website Superyachtfan.com). On March 25, 2022, an FBI Special Agent filed an affidavit in support of seizure of the ''Tango'' with the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District of ...

. The affidavit warrant states

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition or f ...

to seize the ''Tango'' for suspect violations of (conspiracy to commit

bank fraud Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many ins ...

), (

International Emergency Economic Powers Act The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Title II of , is a United States federal law authorizing the president to regulate international commerce after declaring a national emergency in response to any unusual and extraordinary th ...

), and (

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

), and that the seizure is authorized by American statutes on civil and criminal

asset forfeiture Asset forfeiture or asset seizure is a form of confiscation of assets by the authorities. In the United States, it is a type of criminal-justice financial obligation. It typically applies to the alleged proceeds or instruments of crime. This ap ...

. On April 4, 2022,

Magistrate Judge The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

Zia M. Faruqui signed an Order approving the seizure. Judge Faruqui concluded his order stating, "The seizure of the Target Property is just the beginning of the reckoning that awaits those who would facilitate Putin's atrocities. Neither the Department of Justice, nor history, will be kind to the Oligarchs who chose the wrong side. ��The Department of Justice's seizure echoes the message of the brave Ukrainian soldiers of Snake Island." The

Civil Guard Civil Guard refers to various policing organisations: Current * Civil Guard (Spain), Spanish gendarmerie * Civil Guard (Israel), Israeli volunteer police reserve * Civil Guard (Brazil), Municipal law enforcement corporations in Brazil Histori ...

of Spain and U.S. federal agents of both the

and

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the I ...

seized the ''Tango'' in

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

. A

press release states that the seizure of the ''Tango'' was by request of Task Force KleptoCapture. On June 6, 2022, the United States was authorized to seize two of

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian Russian oligarchs, oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, a Premier League football club ...

’s aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 and a Gulfstream G650ER worth more than $400 million. A United States press release states that the seizures were requested by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, working with Task Force KleptoCapture. On August 8, 2022, a U.S. federal magistrate judge signed an order authorizing the United States to seize the private airplane of Andrei Skoch, a sanctioned Russian oligarch who is a member of Russia's

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

. U.S. press releases indicated that the airplane is an

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...

A319-100 with tail number P4-MGU worth over $90 million, which had previously been blocked by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York led this investigation in partnership with the KleptoCapture Task Force.

References

External links

* {{Russia–United States relations 2022 establishments in the United States Reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine Sanctions against Russia United States Department of Justice Russia–United States relations Presidency of Joe Biden Oligarchy Asset forfeiture Articles containing video clips