U.S. pressures Moscow with Russian indictments

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced a new series of arrests and indictments Thursday targeting Russian businessmen and their middlemen in five separate federal cases, pledging that the U.S. would keep up its financial pressure on Moscow as the Ukraine war enters its third grueling year.

The action was timed to coincide with the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The Biden administration is seeking to demonstrate its unwavering support for Ukraine.

The cases announced Thursday include charges unsealed in New York against sanctioned Russian banker Andrei Kostin and “two of his U.s.based facilitators.” The facilitators, Vadim Wolfson and Gannon Bond, were arrested Thursday.

Kostin is the longtime president of VTB Bank, a state-owned bank and Russia’s second-largest. He is charged with engaging in a scheme to evade sanctions and launder money to support two superyachts. He along with the two others are accused of trying to evade sanctions by concealing his ownership of a home in Aspen, Colorado. The indictment says Wolfson and Bond arranged to sell the house and provide Kostin with about $12 million from the sale.

Michael Khoo, a co-director of the department’s Task Force Klepto capture, said on a call with reporters that the announcement was meant to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “we’re not going away” and “we can play the long game as well” so long as the war continues.

The Justice Department says over the past two years it has secured court orders for the restraint, seizure, and forfeiture of nearly $700 million in assets and has charged more than 70 people with violating sanctions and export controls.