Federal prosecutors have issued a stream of subpoenas in recent months in an effort to uncover Russian oligarchs‘ assets hidden in the U.S., laying the groundwork to seize real estate, cash accounts and trust funds, say people familiar with the matter.
Many of the subpoenas seek business, bank and trust records they say would help prosecutors cut through layers of complex ownership structures meant to obscure oligarchs’ holdings.
The actions across several federal courts, including in New York and Houston, are part of a broad Western effort to coerce Russia into pulling out of Ukraine and find new sources of funding for Ukraine’s war effort and eventual reconstruction.
Since February, Western authorities have frozen more than $330 billion Russian assets, Western officials say. About $300 billion of that are reserves held by Russia’s central bank in foreign bank accounts. Much of the rest includes oligarchs’ companies, bank accounts, trusts, yachts, jets, real estate and jewelry.
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