Supreme Court Denies Russian Oligarch's Cert Petition Over Sanctions Listing

The U.S. Supreme Court in an Oct. 3 order denied Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska's petition for certiorari over his sanctions designation. The move comes shortly after he, along with his associates, were charged with conspiring to violate his sanctions listing. The court rejected the cert motion without issuing any further explanation.

The U.S. sanctioned the Russian billionaire, owner of investment and management company Basic Element, in 2018. He was indicted Sept. 29 for conspiring to violate the sanctions after he allegedly tried to circumvent the sanctions, including through the Gracetown Inc. corporate entity, which used the U.S. financial system to maintain three luxury properties in the U.S. (see 2209290040).

The case in front of the Supreme Court, however, concerned the legality of Deripaska's sanctions listing. The Russian billionaire argued that the sanctions listing went beyond the Treasury Department's authority since the designation was not linked to a national emergency. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the grounds on which the listing was made, says the president can impose sanctions if he declares a national emergency.

Jacobson Burton Managing Partner Doug Jacobson tweeted that the move was "not a big surprise, although the cert petition raises interesting issues" over the sanctions pursuant to the IEEPA.