The US Treasury Department on Thursday announced the asset freeze of more than $1 billion of a US-based company controlled by Russian oligarch and politician Suleiman Kerimov, which has already been sanctioned by Washington.
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An investigation by US authorities “showed that Kerimov used a complex set of legal structures and front men to disguise his interest in Heritage Trust,” a company based in Delaware (eastern United States), according to a Treasury Department press release . Billionaire Suleiman Kerimov was sanctioned by the United States in 2018 for alleged money laundering and is now among Russian oligarchs sanctioned by several countries and the European Union after Russia invaded Ukraine. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen accused Russian elites of “hiding behind intermediaries and complex legal arrangements” and said her department will use her authority to enforce sanctions against “those who finance and benefit from Russia’s war in Ukraine”.
Delaware’s tax laws are among the most favorable in the world, and the East Coast state, the stronghold of President Joe Biden, is home to many foreign companies. In its statement, the US Treasury Department also claims that a nephew of Suleiman Kerimov, Ruslan Gadjiev, is one of the beneficiaries of the Heritage Trust. Ruslan Gadjiev, who was elected to Russia’s parliament, has been under US sanctions since March, and his involvement in society “provides a separate and independent reason” for that freeze, Washington says. In early June, a Fijian court approved the handover of Suleiman Kerimov-linked superyacht Amadea to the United States. The boat, valued at around $300 million, was seized by Fiji at Washington’s request.
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