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.

Filed 45m ago · Via Meduza · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Russia's Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case over the U.S. seizure of $5.4 million belonging to businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, founder of the Tsargrad channel, after he filed a complaint. The money was confiscated from a Denver bank account in 2023 after U.S. authorities said Malofeyev tried to move it in violation of sanctions; it was later sent to the State Department to support Ukrainian veterans.

The case was the first confiscation under the Justice Department's KleptoCapture task force, created in 2022 to enforce Russia sanctions. Malofeyev claims $10 million was actually seized and accuses the U.S. government, under then-President Biden and then-Attorney General Garland, of running an 'organized crime group' that split some of the funds among officials.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

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Filing a theft report with Moscow over money Washington took is a bit like asking your own dog to testify that the neighbor's cat started it. You'll get a ruling, sure. Mr. Malofeyev also can't seem to settle whether he lost $5.4 million or $10 million, and a man who's honestly been robbed usually knows the figure down to the dime. The fact that it ended up with Ukrainian veterans probably stings worse than the amount, whatever it turns out to be.

Source: Read the original at Meduza → Scored: Hyperfun · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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