Airbus A319-100 plane bearing tail number P4-MGU and serial number 5445 is owned by Russian oligarch Andrei Skoch (Credit: U.S. Department of Justice)
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
The United States obtained a warrant to seize an Airbus A319-100 (the Airbus) private plane worth more than $90 million owned and controlled by sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrei Skoch. A federal judge this week authorized the seizure warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which found that the airplane is subject to seizure and forfeiture based on probable cause of violation of the federal anti-money laundering laws. According to the U.S. DOJ, Skoch is the beneficial owner of the Airbus through a series of shell companies and trusts tied to his romantic partner. After the U.S. OFAC designated Skoch in April 2018 and continuing through in or about at least in or about 2021, U.S. dollar transactions were made to pay for the registration of the Airbus in Aruba and for aviation insurance premiums for the Airbus, each of which was a necessary expense to maintain and operate the Airbus, the DOJ said.
“Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (NEA), and Executive Orders Issued by the President of the United States, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Andrei Skoch as a Specially Designated National (SDN) on or about April 6, 2018 ‘for being an official of the Government of the Russian Federation,’ ‘a deputy of the Russian Federation’s State Duma,’ and because of his ‘longstanding ties to Russian organized criminal groups, including time spent leading one such enterprise.”
– U.S. Department of Justice Seizure Warrant and affidavit sworn out August 08, 2022
Skoch is a billionaire and member of Russia’s State Duma who made his fortune through a stake in a conglomerate in the metals and mining industry.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, OFAC issued further sanctions against Skoch and his assets. On or about March 24, 2022, OFAC designated Skoch and other members of the Duma for “support[ing] the Kremlin’s efforts to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” On or about June 2, 2022, OFAC identified the Airbus as blocked property in which Skoch had an interest, according to the DOJ.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua A. Naftalis and Nicholas S. Bradley for the Southern District of New York are in charge of the investigation. The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force “dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls, and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.” The DOJ said the task force that was announced by the Attorney General on March 2 and run out of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, will continue to “leverage all of the Department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.”
