US says task force dedicated to targeting sanctioned Russian oligarchs is 'up and running'
The U.S. Department of Justice said its new task force dedicated to targeting sanctioned Russian oligarchs and their assets is "up and running," a senior DOJ official told reporters on Friday.
The DOJ is building out an experienced team of criminal and national security attorneys weighing a number of possible criminal charges to bring against those helping to support Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine, according to the official.
The "KleptoCapture" task force is now being led by assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Adams, a co-chief of the Southern District of New York's Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises unit.
David Lim, a trial attorney in DOJ's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and Michael Khoo, an attorney in DOJ's Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, have been appointed as deputy directors for the task force.
"Our goal is to bring any appropriate charge against any sanctioned Russian oligarch or entity and those who would help them to evade economic sanctions," the DOJ official said.
The official added, "Offenses under investigation are going to include sanctions evasion, money laundering, bank and wire fraud -- but the task force will bring any charge that might undermine and disrupt the comfort that these oligarchs achieved through crime and corruption."
Last week, charges were brought in the Southern District of New York against Jack Hanick, the first ever individual charged with violating U.S. sanctions arising from Russia's 2014 actions in Ukraine.
-ABC News' Alexander Mallin