Biden Announces Proposals to Hold Russian Oligarchs Accountable [1]
On April 28, 2021, President Biden announced [3] a proposal for a comprehensive legislative package that “[would] enhance the United States Government’s authority to hold the Russian government and Russian oligarchs accountable for President Putin’s war against Ukraine.” The proposals “establish new authorities for the forfeiture of property linked to Russian kleptocracy, allow the government to use the proceeds to support Ukraine, and further strengthen related law enforcement tools.” In addition, the package aims to “improve the United States’ ability to use forfeited oligarch funds to remediate harms caused by Ukraine by Russian aggression”; allow for the forfeiture of property that oligarchs use to evade sanctions; “strengthen the United States’ ability to investigate and prosecute sanctions evasion by adding the crime of sanctions evasion to the definition of ‘racketeering activity’ in the RICO Act”; improving the ability of the US to prosecute money laundering based on foreign offenses by extending the statute of limitations from five to ten years; and improving international cooperation to recover assets linked to foreign corruption.