Official disclosures from the Kremlin list Putin’s annual income around $140,000, and show that he owns a 800-square-foot apartment in St. Petersburg along with two Soviet-era cars, an off-road truck and car trailer. But these assets hardly account for the wealth members of his inner circle hold on his behalf, experts say. The Panama Papers and Pandora Papers—leaked documents that contain information about wealthy individuals hiding money through a network of offshore bank accounts and companies—suggest that Russians with close ties to Putin have amassed fortunes that his family also benefits from.

“He keeps his money in the West,” Browder said in his 2017 testimony, but that money is “potentially exposed to asset freezes and confiscation.” Although the exact location of Putin’s financial holdings remains a mystery, it’s unlikely he keeps money in the U.S.— suggesting the Biden administration’s decision to join E.U. leaders in freezing his assets is largely a symbolic move. Sanctioning Putin and Lavrov “sends a clear message about the strength of the opposition to the actions by President Putin and the direction in his leadership of the Russian military,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday.

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny wrote to TIME’s Simon Shuster in November that U.S. sanctions would be far more effective by going after Putin’s own fortune as well as assets his allies keep for him in Western banks. “It’s really simple,” Navalny wrote. “You want to influence Putin, then influence his personal wealth. It’s right under your backside.” Navalny’s foundation sent a similar message to the White House early last year, asking for sanctions against 35 of Russia’s most senior officials and oligarchs close to Putin, some of whom were later sanctioned.