- The US Department of Justice announced an indictment against a former Fox News director on Thursday.
- Jack Hanick, who worked across Fox's daytime programming for 15 years and at CNBC, was arrested on Feb 3.
- He is accused of violating sanctions by helping a Russian oligarch launch a pro-Putin TV channel.
Just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, a former Fox News and CNBC staffer was arrested in London on February 3 for allegedly violating sanctions in his efforts to launch a pro-Putin TV network.
The US Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it has indicted Jack Hanick, who worked at Fox for 15 years, over his work with Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.
DOJ alleges that Hanick knowingly helped Malofeyev in his business venture, despite Malofeyev's financing of Russian-backed separatist soldiers in Ukraine's Donbas region since 2014.
"The defendant Hanick knowingly chose to help Malofeyev spread his destabilizing messages by establishing, or attempting to establish, TV networks in Russia, Bulgaria and Greece, in violation of those sanctions," the DOJ statement read.
A representative for Fox News told Insider that Hanick worked as a director across daytime programming and left the network in 2011. The Fox spokesperson also said Hanick never worked for primetime opinion host Sean Hannity, contrary to prior reports.
The news of Hanick's arrest and indictment was first reported by Bloomberg News.
Hanick is now facing extradition from London to the United States, where he would be tried in New York City, according to DOJ.
Federal prosecutor Damian Williams released a statement saying that sanctions "prohibit United States citizens from working for or doing business with Malofeyev but as alleged, Hanick violated those sanctions by working directly for Malofeyev on multiple television projects over the course of several years."
The channel Hanick helped launch, Tsargrad TV, was banned by YouTube in 2020 over sanctions against Malofeyev. The right-wing network had a particular pro-Putin and pro-Orthodox Christianity bend to it, according to Meduza, a Russian and English speaking outlet based out of Latvia.