Russian Oligarch's Associate Charged With Sanctions Evasion for Concealing Real Estate Properties

Vladimir Voronchenko, a Russian citizen and legal permanent resident of the U.S., was charged with participating in a scheme to net over $4 million to maintain four properties in the U.S. owned by sanctioned oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, DOJ announced. Voronchenko also tried to sell two of the properties.

Vekselberg was listed as a Specially Designated National in 2018 after Russia annexed parts of Ukraine.The oligarch was redesignated in March 2022, with OFAC blocking his yacht and private plane.

From 2008 to 2017, though, Vekselberg via a series of shell companies, bought four properties, two in New York and two in Florida, collectively worth around $75 million. Voronchenko retained an attorney "in connection with the acquisition of" and eventual attempts to sell the properties. Right after Vekselberg was designated as an SDN, though, the source of funds used to maintain and service the properties changed, the agency said. The "attorney’s interest on lawyer’s trust account" began receiving wires from a bank account in the Bahamas held in the name of a shell company controlled by Voronchenko, DOJ alleged.

From 2018 to 2022, around 25 wire transfers totaling around $4 million were sent to the attorney's account. Voronchenko was then charged with conspiring to violate and evade U.S. sanctions in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, violating IEEPA, conspiring to commit international money laundering, and international money laundering. Each charge comes with a maximum of 20 years in prison.