Bipartisan Bill Could Help US Transfer Forfeited Russian Assets to Ukraine
A new bipartisan bill in the Senate and House would allow DOJ to “more quickly” seize sanctioned Russian assets through existing forfeiture processes and transfer proceeds from those assets to help Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts. The Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, introduced this week, would lift the $500,000 cap on administrative forfeitures of assets owned by Russian oligarchs and others, and would also “clarify DOJ’s transfer authority, ensuring that the U.S. government can transfer to Ukraine all the funds it acquires through seizure of Russian oligarch assets,” according to a news release.
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The bill “is just a first step,” said Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who introduced the measure in the Senate along with Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Risch noted he is hoping Congress will also pass his Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act, which would block the release of sanctioned Russian funds until Moscow withdraws from Ukraine and agrees to provide compensation for the damage it caused (see 2306150034). “We must also act to seize Russia’s sovereign assets in the United States,” Risch said.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who introduced the bill in the House along with Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said the legislation “provides a clear mechanism to expedite the seizure of [Vladimir] Putin-connected illicit assets and transfer those funds to support Ukraine."
The bill comes about two months after Attorney General Merrick Garland asked the House Judiciary Committee for the authority to more easily transfer proceeds from certain forfeited property to help Ukraine, including forfeited Russian assets connected to Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea or for violations of certain export controls (see 2309200040).