The US government says it has exposed Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and three Russian companies in an attempt to illegally unfreeze more than $1.5 billion blocked under sanctions.
This is stated in a statement of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury (OFAC).
According to the U.S., in June 2023, Deripaska coordinated a deal with Russian Dmitry Beloglazov, owner of Russian financial services company Titul, to sell Deripaska’s frozen shares in a European company.
Within weeks thereafter, Titul created a subsidiary financial services firm, Iliadis, which acquired the Russian investment holding company Rasperia Trading Limited, which owns Deripaska’s frozen shares, in early 2024.
In this way, the Russian oligarch and Beloglazov tried to get the frozen shares out from under the previously imposed restrictions.
In this regard, the United States blocked all property and assets owned by Dmitry Beloglazov, Iliadis, Rasperia Treiding Limited and Titul, which are located in the United States or in the possession of American citizens.
The US Treasury Department froze the personal assets of Oleg Deripaska back in October 2018. He is the owner of Rusal, one of the largest aluminum smelters in the world.
The United States imposed sanctions against Deripaska over the case of interference in the 2016 presidential election. The oligarch challenged the sanctions, but the US court did not support him.