The Biden administration's Justice Department has authorized the seizure of two jets belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich amid sanctions for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Abramovich was charged with exporting two U.S.-origin planes to Russia without a license, which was required due to U.S. sanctions imposed on Moscow, a federal judge in New York ruled Monday.
One is a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, the other is a Gulfstream G650ER, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, CNBC reported.
Getting the jets back might prove difficult. The Boeing, worth $350 million, is in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, while the Gulfstream is in Russia, according to the documents.
Justice Department officials consider the jets "tainted assets," Reuters reported.
In a charging letter, the U.S. Department of Commerce said Abramovich in February named his Russian children the beneficiaries of the "shell entities" that owned the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Gulfstream G650 ER aircraft, but that he continued to control them.
The charges come as U.S. authorities seek to pressure business leaders close to Putin to convince Moscow to halt its actions in Ukraine, which the Kremlin calls a "special military operation." Abramovich has not personally been sanctioned by the United States.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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