- The FBI seized several items in October 2021 raids on a Russian oligarch's mansions, Bloomberg reported.
- Among the items were Prada shoes, fine artworks, and hiking boots, Bloomberg said.
- The oligarch in question, Oleg Deripaska, was sanctioned by the US in 2018.
FBI agents seized items including Prada shoes, sunglasses, and six fine artworks when they raided New York and Washington mansions linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, Bloomberg reported Monday.
Deripaska, a billionaire industrialist who cofounded aluminum giant Rusal, was sanctioned by the US in 2018 after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea territory in 2014. Deripaska is accused by the US of breaches of money laundering laws and threatening the lives of business rivals.
In October 2021, the FBI raided New York and Washington, DC mansions linked to Deripaska, Bloomberg reported, citing anonymous people familiar with the matter. Also among the items seized by agents were hiking boots and homewares, as well as financial and telephone records, the people told Bloomberg.
The raids appear to be linked to concerns among US authorities that Deripaska has tried to evade US sanctions, Bloomberg said.
Deripaska's spokesperson dismissed the claims, saying they were "lies and baseless allegations." They told Bloomberg: "To think that seizing baseball caps and shoes in houses that do not even belong to Mr Deripaska will somehow make those lies more believable is absurd."
Deripaska sued to lift the US sanctions after they "devastated" his wealth and reputation, The Wall Street Journal reported. A US court rejected his appeal in March 2022, saying his reasoning that the sanctions were unlawful lacked merit, court documents showed.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Deripaska was sanctioned by the UK, on March 10, and by Australia, on March 18, over what officials said were his links to Putin and the Kremlin.
Deripaska has spoken out against what Russia has called a "special military operation" in Ukraine.