When the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to confiscate the real estate of a Russian businessman in February 2024, it was acting against an alleged violator of US sanctions.
The object of interest of US law enforcement agencies were two apartments in Bal Harbor, a prestigious suburb of Miami (Florida), which formally belonged to a company registered in the state of Delaware. In fact, US prosecutors say, this company served as a front for the real owner of the property, businessman Viktor Perevalov from St. Petersburg, Russia.
As a journalistic investigation by the Russian service of the Voice of America showed, his business partner Valery Abramov, whose bank accounts are mentioned in the lawsuit, also owned real estate in Florida.
Abramov transferred his property to his wife after he was included in the sanctions list in 2018, which is likely a violation of sanctions: such a transaction is not allowed without unfreezing the sanctioned share of the property, says Brian O’Toole, a former US Treasury official and expert on sanctions.
With criminals routinely creating new shell companies and finding new ways to circumvent restrictions, sanctions enforcement can sometimes feel like a “giant game of cat and mouse,” he said.
Abramov and Perevalov did not respond to VOA’s request for comment. The Justice Department also declined to comment.
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2024-03-26 06:59:35