Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska charged with violating US sanctions, scheming to have baby for citizenship
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Oleg Deripaska, one of Russia’s most powerful oligarchs, has been indicted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal sanctions violations. The indictment claims that Deripaska, 54, illegally used the US financial system to maintain three luxury properties in the US, and employed his fellow defendants, Olga Shriki and Natalia Mikhaylovna Bardakova, to help him “to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of services for his benefit in the United States". This included a scheme for his girlfriend, Voronina, to give birth to their child on US soil in 2020, so that the child can benefit from the healthcare system, and receive birthright citizenship, according to court records.
In an indictment released on Thursday, September 29, US attorney general Merrick B Garland said, "In the wake of Russia’s unjust and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, I promised the American people that the Justice Department would work to hold accountable those who break our laws and threaten our national security. Today’s charges demonstrate we are keeping that promise. The Justice Department will not stop working to identify, find, and bring to justice those who evade US sanctions in order to enable the Russian regime.”
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Additionally, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O Monaco said, “As today’s charges reveal, while serving the Russian state and energy sector, Oleg Deripaska sought to circumvent US sanctions through lies and deceit to cash in on and benefit from the American way of life. But shell companies and webs of lies will not shield Deripaska and his cronies from American law enforcement, nor will they protect others who support the Putin regime. The Department of Justice remains dedicated to the global fight against those who aid and abet the Russian war machine.”
According to court documents, Deripaska, the owner, and controller of Basic Element, was first subjected to US sanctions in the year 2018, when he was designated by the US treasury for having acted for a senior Russian official. The federal authorities blacklisted him for his support for the Kremlin-backed campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, reports Yahoo!
The DOJ said, "Despite Deripaska’s ongoing support for the Russian regime, he funded hundreds of thousands of dollars of transactions so that his child would take advantage of the US health care system and US birthright citizenship … Deripaska distrusted the safety of the Russian hospital system.” The indictment release said Deripaska “orchestrated” the payment via Shriki of about $300K in health care and housing costs for Voronina to have the baby.
According to the indictment, Shriki and Bardakova helped arrange for Voronina's entry to the US in 2020 and again in 2022 for the birth of her second child with Deripaska. On that second trip, after arriving on a private jet funded by Deripaska, Voronina lied to the Department of Homeland Security to conceal her ties to the Russian oligarch. Voronina was refused entry, according to the indictment, which charges her with making false statements to federal agents.
The charges
Deripaska, Bardakova, and Shriki, are charged with one count of conspiring to violate and evade the US sanctions, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Shriki is charged with one count of destruction of records, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. While Bardakova and Voronina are each charged with one count of making false statements to federal agents, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.