WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration issued a fresh round of Russia-related sanctions on Wednesday, taking aim at what it called an illicit finance network that allowed Russian elites to leverage digital assets to avoid sanctions.
In a statement the U.S. Department of Treasury said it was targeting five individuals and four entities tied to “a sprawling international network of businesses and employees that have facilitated significant sanctions circumvention” known as the TGR Group.
The targets also include an entity based in Wyoming that is owned in part by a sanctioned individual, the department said.
“Through the TGR Group, Russian elites sought to exploit digital assets — in particular U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins — to evade U.S. and international sanctions, further enriching themselves and the Kremlin,” Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement.
The international network actions include “the laundering of funds associated with sanctioned entities; providing an unregistered service to exchange cash and cryptocurrency; the receipt of cash and making the value available to clients in the form of cryptocurrency; providing a pre-paid credit card service; and, obfuscating the source of funds to allow high-net worth Russian nationals to purchase property in the United Kingdom,” according to the department’s statement.
Such sanctions generally prohibit any U.S. persons or entities from conducting any transactions with sanctioned targets and freeze any U.S.-held assets belonging to the sanctioned individuals or entities.
Among those targeted in Wednesday’s action are George Rossi, a Russian-born Ukrainian national born in Russia that the Treasury Department said is believed to control the TGR Group, and Rossi’s direct subordinate, Russian national Elena Chirkinyan, among others.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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