MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. Moscow considers the US’ confiscation of Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev's assets outright robbery for political reasons, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a commentary distributed on Tuesday.
"The decision of [US President] Joe Biden's administration to seize Konstantin Malofeev's assets blocked in an American bank and transfer them to the pro-Nazi regime in Kiev is nothing but outright robbery made for political reasons," the diplomat pointed out.
Thus, according to her, the US authorities have created a precedent of confiscating funds from undesirable foreign citizens in violation of their own laws and fundamental principles that guarantee the inviolability of private property, "through dubious legal tricks and manipulation".
Zakharova noted that everyone who used US financial instruments from countries declared hostile by Washington "had the opportunity to see once again that talk about guarantees of deposits and investments is nothing more than empty talk." "They have taught international business a clear lesson in lawlessness, where any property can easily be taken away and given to the right client, if the US decides so," the spokeswoman added.
She also pointed out that judging by the actions of the American administration, the mechanism of stealing other people's property was becoming more and more widespread in Washington. "Trust in the American financial system will be further undermined," Zakharova emphasized.
"True, soon the ‘pseudo-Ukrainian’ budget from the stolen assets will be nothing but crumbs, while the funds themselves will settle in the United States and the pockets of pro-government Ukrainian oligarchs," the diplomat concluded.
On confiscation of Malofeev's assets
US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced earlier that Malofeev’s confiscated assets, totaling $5.4 million, would be transferred to Ukraine. According to Reuters, the court order to seize Malofeev's funds was the first to come into effect since US prosecutors began blocking the accounts of Russian businessmen starting in 2022 based on Washington-imposed sanctions due to the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Malofeev has been on the US sanctions list since 2014; in April 2022, US sanctions against him were expanded, including the blacklisting of Transcapitalbank "and a global network of more than 40 individuals and organizations" whose actions were allegedly managed by the businessman.