- A judge signed off on warrants to seize two luxury jets from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
- The two planes have a combined value of about $400 million, Biden administration officials said.
- Biden officials hope the warrants deter any further transport of the planes on Romanovich's behalf.
US authorities obtained warrants Monday to seize two luxury jets from the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, as the Justice Department and Biden administration escalated enforcement of sanctions and export controls imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
In court filings, the Justice Department said the two planes — a Gulfstream and Boeing Dreamliner — flew to Russia in March in violation of export controls. Because the planes were manufactured in the United States, Abramovich would have needed licenses to move them to Russia — "but no licenses were applied for or issued," the Justice Department said in the court filings.
The seizure warrant marked the latest move by the Justice Department's so-called KleptoCapture task force, which Attorney General Merrick Garland established in March to ramp up enforcement of sanctions and other economic countermeasures levied in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The task force's efforts previously resulted in the seizure of two yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin.
In a parallel action Monday, the Commerce Department filed administrative charges against Abramovich, alleging that his Boeing flew from Dubai to Moscow on March 4 in violation of export controls. The plane flew back to Dubai the same day and has remained there since then, the FBI said.
Later in March, the Gulfstream flew between Istanbul and Moscow in violation of export controls, with Romanovich aboard as the "primary passenger on part, if not all, of those flights to and from Russia."
Romanovich faces a maximum penalty of about $328,000 per violation or a sum twice the amount of the transaction at issue. An administration official said Monday that the Boeing plane is worth about $350 million, and the Gulfstream jet about $60 million.
The planes "are not today taken into U.S. custody," the administration official said, "but they are now publicly known as wanted property, as tainted assets subject to forfeiture and under active pursuit."
Abramovich sold Chelsea Football Club last month to a group led by LA Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly and investment company Clearlake Capital Group. His sale of the storied team came just months after the UK and European Union sanctioned him in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
On Monday, a Justice Department official acknowledged that the United States has not similarly sanctioned Abramovich. But the official said that "simply not being on the [sanctions] list is not carte blanche" for enabling Putin's war machine.
The prospects for seizing the Gulfstream and Boeing planes are unclear, the administration official said, noting that the two jets are in "difficult spots now." But by obtaining the seizure warrants and making the Commerce Department charges public, the Biden administration sent a message deterring any company or individual from facilitating further transport of the jets on Romanovich's behalf, the Justice Department official said.
"One way to do that is by making its allegations publicly known," the official said.