Sanctioned Russian Businessman Malofeev Says US Committed Crime Seizing His Funds

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Founder of Russian media group Tsargrad Konstantin Malofeev told Sputnik on Thursday that seizure of his funds in the United States could be qualified as a crime committed by an organized group of people by prior conspiracy.

On Saturday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that Malofeev's forfeited funds will be "transferred to the State Department to support the people of Ukraine." This became the first case of seizing funds of sanctioned Russian individuals and using them to assist Ukraine.

"Under the Russian legal system, my case can be seen as an organized criminal group of people, and we know this for a fact, because at least [US President Joe] Biden spoke out against me... Ukrainian prosecutor Andriy Kostin, all these people said they took my money. So this money, mine in 2014, is now somehow being transferred between them, they even brag about this loot," he told Sputnik.

He also noted that Russian media should start referring to this case as "a crime committed by a group of people" in accordance with the Russian Criminal Code, and stop using "the American narrative." The entrepreneur also said Russia "is dealing with the enemy that started to despise all the laws of the civilized world long time ago."

Seizure of frozen funds belonging to Russians in the US is fraud, and Russian law enforcement should determine whether it qualifies as theft or robbery, Malofeev added.

The media group founder also called for a tribunal for both the Kiev regime and Washington officials supporting and "controlling" it.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated earlier that the seizure of Malofeev’s funds by the Biden administration was "outright robbery," saying the international business was given a lesson of lawlessness in the United States.