“It will not be the last,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Monday. “Together, with our international partners, we will do everything possible to hold accountable any individual whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war.”
Another $625,000 spread across nine different banks was frozen as part of investigations into sanctions violations by Russian nationals, according to the department.
The DOJ announced last month that it was launching a special unit to help enforce sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs, targeting their yachts, jets, real estate and other assets.
The unit, called KleptoCapture, includes prosecutors and federal agents and experts in money laundering, tax enforcement and national security investigations from the FBI, the IRS, the US Marshals Service, and the US Postal Inspection Service.