U.S. going after Russian plane last seen in Houston

The U.S. plans to seize a $45 million airplane owned by a multinational oil-and-gas corporation based in Moscow.

The seizure of the plane, belonging to Russian energy company PJSC Lukoil, was authorized by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to a news release. The court fond probable cause that the Boeing 737-7EM aircraft violated federal law.

“We’ll continue to go after individuals who insist on helping Russia advance its hostile and illegal activities, and we’ll continue to seize their valuable possessions, wherever they may be," said Special Agent in Charge James Smith of the FBI Houston Field Office.

The Boeing last flew in the United States in March 2019, when it arrived in Houston with a Russian oligarch — then-Lukoil CEO and President Vagit Alekperov. Since September 2014, Lukoil has been subject to sectoral sanctions from the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The Department of Commerce issued sanctions earlier this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, the sanctions imposed license requirements and export controls. They also expanded prohibitions on the export or in-country transfer of U.S.-manufactured aircraft to or within Russia without a valid license or license exception, as said in the news release.

The plane is believed to be in Russia now. The FBI and Department of Commerce had to unravel a series of shell companies to determine the alleged illegal activity.

“By aggressively pursuing the seizure of these assets, we have sent a resounding message to sanctions violators and thirdparty facilitators around the globe that we are committed to targeting any individual or entity that seeks to blatantly skirt the sanctions, export controls and license requirements imposed by the United States in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Dawson of Homeland Scurity Investigations Houston.