The United States Justice authorized this Monday the seizure of two planes of the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich that allegedly violated the country’s sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.
Judge Sarah Cave of the Southern District of New York gave the green light to a request from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to seize a Boeing 787 and a Gulfstream aircraft controlled by Abramovich, according to a court document.
Authorities argue that the billionaire, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, took the planes out of the US and sent them to Russia in March, after the start of the Ukraine war.
Because these are US-made planes, prosecutors believe Abramovich “re-exported” the planes, subject to Washington’s trade restrictions against Moscow, without obtaining a license to do so.
The Boeing, which is located in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) is customized and valued at about 350 million dollars, and is considered one of the “most expensive private planes in the world”, according to the document.
The FBI also believes that Abramovich controls both ships through a network of “shell companies” in which he named his children as beneficiaries last February.
Abramóvich is not part of the list of Russian oligarchs sanctioned in the United States, but he has been sanctioned by the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) for his “close relationship for decades” with Putin.
As a result of these sanctions, which froze Abramovich’s assets and prevent him from entering the United Kingdom and the EU, the Russian billionaire put the Chelsea football club, which he owned, up for sale. EFE
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