Sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov is not having a good time these days. Last month, the US seized and took possession of his $300 million superyacht and sailed it to San Diego, flying a US flag.
Now, the US Treasury department has announced they’ve frozen more than $1 billion of his funds hidden in a Delaware-based investment company call Heritage Trust.
The US Treasury said Kerimov and his proxies used various layers of US and non-US shell companies to hold formal titles to assets and to conduct transactions in a manner that concealed his interest. Kerimov’s assets in the Heritage Trust are among the largest frozen by the US government since Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Even as Russian elites hide behind proxies and complex legal arrangements, Treasury will use our broad enforcement authorities, as well as our partnerships through the REPO Task Force, to actively implement the multilaterally coordinated sanctions imposed on those who fund and benefit from Russia’s war against Ukraine.” – Janet Yellen US Treasury Secretary
When I first posted about Kerimov’s yacht getting seized, my Facebook page lit up with questions/comments on why the US was taking the assets of a private citizen. Kerimov is not a private citizen. He is a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. Kerimov represents the Republic of Dagestan in the Russian government’s upper chamber. He just happens to be a politician that’s worth $11.2 billion, according to Forbes. He was sanctioned by the US in 2018 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Since the international sanctions against Russia started, the United States and its allies have blocked or frozen more than $30 billion worth of sanctioned Russians’ assets and immobilized about $300 billion worth of Russian Central Bank assets.
Amandea sailing into San Diego Bay