No Surprise
The sanctions “were not necessarily a surprise for them,” Mermelstein said. “Most of the individuals on the list have not had investments in the U.S. for a long time.”
Andrei Fursenko, Putin’s adviser on education and science, who is on the sanctions list, said in an interview that he doesn’t have any U.S. assets. Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin mocked the sanctions targeting him on March 17, saying on Twitter, “Comrade Obama, what are people who have no accounts or property abroad supposed to do? Or didn’t you think about that?”
Homeland Security set up the Miami-based Foreign Corruption Investigations Group in 2003 to track holdings of foreigners who launder money through the U.S. financial system. Among its finds: $70.8 million of U.S. property that the son of the president of Equatorial Guinea allegedly purchased through intermediaries, including a Gulfstream Jet, a $30 million Malibu, California, house and $1.8 million of Michael Jackson memorabilia. The U.S. is seeking federal court approval to seize Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue’s assets. Attorneys for Nguema have said in court filings that his spending was legal and did not violate money laundering statutes.
Helicopters, Paintings
As they hunt for belongings ranging from helicopters to paintings, federal investigators are hoping for help from U.S. banks and insurance companies. Such businesses are scrutinizing their customers to avoid violating the prohibition on transactions with any company in which a sanctions target owns a majority stake, said Thaddeus McBride, an international lawyer at Sheppard Mullin in Washington. McBride is holding online compliance seminars for financial institutions, he said.
The search for hidden assets won’t be completed “overnight,” Tobon said.
“These cases generally take many years because the individuals are deliberately trying to hide assets,” he said. “They are powerful and smart and will use every conceivable tool to delay and buy time and muddy the water.”