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.

The U.S. has arrested and frozen $5.4 million belonging to Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, who is the founder of the Tsargrad channel. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case over the seizure of funds, alleging "misappropriation." Malofeyev himself has filed a complaint, seeking investigation into the events of 2023.

The U.S. authorities seized the money from an account at Sunflower Bank in Denver, claiming that Malofeyev had attempted to transfer the funds to a partner in violation of sanctions. Malofeyev asserts that the funds had been frozen since 2014. The confiscated money was subsequently transferred to the State Department to provide support for Ukrainian veterans.

This marks the first such seizure since the U.S. Justice Department formed the KleptoCapture task force in 2022, which monitors sanctions compliance against Russia and can temporarily freeze assets of Russian nationals. Malofeyev claims that the U.S. authorities seized a total of $10 million, handing over $5.4 million to "Ukrainian terrorists."

The Investigative Committee has not specified the exact amount of money they believe was "illegally seized" and "misappropriated." They have stated that the funds were transferred to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Malofeyev called the opening of the investigation an "unprecedented development," labeling the confiscation of his funds as "theft" by an "organized crime group" led by President Joe Biden and former Attorney General Merrick Garland. He also accused U.S. officials of distributing some of the seized funds among themselves.