The Department of Justice has launched a task force aimed at enforcing the sanctions against Russia following President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
Task force "KleptoCapture" will ensure the full effect of the sanctions, designed to isolate Russia from global markets and impose serious costs for Putin’s actions, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday.
KleptoCapture also will focus on making sure that corrupt Russian oligarchs are held accountable.
"The Justice Department will use all of its authorities to seize the assets of individuals and entities who violate these sanctions," Garland said in a statement. "We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war. Let me be clear: If you violate our laws, we will hold you accountable."
The task force will be "dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the U.S. has imposed, along with allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine."
Garland added that KleptoCapture would enforce the sanctions targeting the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct.
"To those bolstering the Russian regime through corruption and sanctions evasion: We will deprive you of safe haven and hold you accountable," Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said in the statement. "Oligarchs be warned: We will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds."
KleptoCapture will be run out of Monaco's office and staffed with prosecutors, agents, analysts, and professional staff who are experts in sanctions and export control enforcement, anticorruption, asset forfeiture, anti-money laundering, tax enforcement, national security investigations, and foreign evidence collection.
The task force will investigate and prosecute violations of previous, new and future sanctions against Russia; combat unlawful efforts to undermine restrictions taken against Russian financial institutions; target efforts to use cryptocurrency to evade U.S. sanctions; and use civil and criminal asset forfeiture authorities to seize assets belonging to sanctioned individuals or assets identified as the proceeds of unlawful conduct.
"The Task Force will be fully empowered to use the most cutting-edge investigative techniques — including data analytics, cryptocurrency tracing, foreign intelligence sources, and information from financial regulators and private sector partners — to identify sanctions evasion and related criminal misconduct," the DOJ said in its statement.
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