On February 3, Reuters reported that Manhattan district court judge Paul Gardephe had forfeited $5.4 million of sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev. This oligarch was included in the list of sanctions for his illegal activity — sponsoring the separatists in Crimea.
In 2022, the US Department of justice commissioned a dedicated team to look into the authorization, confiscation and transfer of assets of allies of the Putin regime in response to the Russian war. That same year, Joe Biden gave the justice Department permission to transfer some of the authorized funds to the State Department for onward transfer to war-torn Ukraine. Paul Gardephe's decision of February 2 was the first in the practice of transferring sanctioned assets for reparations.
"These amounts are miniscule compared to the cost of the catastrophe inflicted by Russia on the people and the land of Ukraine, but the contribution is important," Andrew Adams, head of the DoJ's KleptoCapture task force.
Adams added that the confiscated funds could be sent to Ukraine very soon.
