U.S. seeks to seize two luxury jets

U.S. authorities moved Monday to seize two luxury jets — a $60 million Gulfstream and a $350 million aircraft believed to be one of the world’s most expensive private airplanes — after linking both to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

A federal magistrate judge signed a warrant authorizing the seizure of the Gulfstream and a Boeing jet that authorities said was worth less than $100 million before a lavish customization.

The action takes place just days after the United States announced new sanctions and penalties on Russian oligarchs and elites, Kremlin officials, businessmen linked to President Vladimir Putin and their yachts, aircraft and firms that manage them.

President Joe Biden promised after Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine to pursue Russian elites’ “ill-gotten gains.”

A representative for Abramovich did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release Monday that his office was using every legal tool available to respond to “Russian’s illegal war in Ukraine.”

“Our international partners — nations devoted to the rule of law — far outnumber those jurisdictions where these aircraft can safely hide, and our investigation of illegal exports in violation of U.S. law will continue unabated,” he said.

Matthew S. Axelrod, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said the Commerce Department made recent changes to keep its enforcement actions public regarding unprecedented export controls stemming from the invasion of Ukraine.

Axelrod said the action “provides notice to the world of our commitment to enforce those controls aggressively in a transparent way.”

Abramovich, who recently sold his stake in Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, is among the wealthier Russians whose assets are being watched for sanctions violations after the Ukraine invasion.