Task Force KleptoCapture was aUnited States Department of Justice unit established in March 2022 with the goal of enforcing sanctions onRussian oligarchs in response to theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[1][2][3]
The Task force was shut down by the new federal Trump administration on 5 February 2025.
Dating back to the outbreak of thepro-Russian unrest in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, the United States imposed numerouseconomic sanctions against the Russian government, military, and strategic sectors of the economy for its actions. After theRussian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States imposednew sanctions on Russia and strengthened existing ones.
During hisState of the Union Address that same year, U.S. PresidentJoe Biden announced this effort:
Tonight, I say to the Russian oligarchs and the corrupt leaders who’ve bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime: No more.
The United States — I mean it. TheUnited States Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of the Russian oligarchs.
We're joining with European Allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets. We're coming for your ill-begotten gains.[4]
The day after Biden's speech,U.S. Attorney GeneralMerrick B. Garland announced the formation of Task Force KleptoCapture, an inter-agency effort.[5][6]
The leader of the Task Force was initially described as "a veteran corruption prosecutor" from theU.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, assigned to theU.S. Deputy Attorney General's Office. On 3 March 2022, the prosecutor was revealed as Andrew Adams, who had earlier worked as co-chief of the Southern District of New York's Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises. His previous work included the prosecutions ofthief-in-law Razhden Shulaya, as well as the asset forfeiture case againstBitcoin money laundererCharlie Shrem.[7][8]
Others announced as part of the DOJ's team included deputy directors from theUnited States Department of Justice National Security Division andUnited States Department of Justice Criminal Division leading more than a dozen attorneys from those divisions, as well as theTax Division,Civil Division, andU.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the United states. The attorneys listed on KleptoCapture court filings were some of the most experienced prosecutors in the Justice Department.[9][10]
It was also announced that the task force would incorporate officials from theFederal Bureau of Investigation,United States Marshals Service,Internal Revenue Service,United States Postal Inspection Service,U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, andUnited States Secret Service. The principal goal of the task force was to impose sanctions set against these Russian individuals, to freeze and seize the assets that the U.S. government claimed were proceeds of their illegal involvement with the Russian government and the invasion of Ukraine.[11]
On 11 March 2022, United States PresidentJoseph R. Biden signedExecutive Order14068, "Prohibiting Certain Imports, Exports, and New Investment With Respect to Continued Russian Federation Aggression," an order of economic sanctions prohibiting the trade in luxury goods.[12]
At the same time, the Treasury listed specific assets ofViktor Vekselberg, worth an estimated $180 million: anAirbus A319-115 jet and themotor yachtTango as targets for seizure.[13] Estimates of theTango's value ranged from $90 million, according to theU.S. Department of Justice, to $120 million, according to the website Superyachtfan.com).[14]
On 25 March 2022, an FBI Special Agent filed an affidavit in support of seizure of theTango with theUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia. The affidavit warrant statedprobable cause to seize theTango for suspect violations of18 U.S.C. § 1349 (conspiracy to commitbank fraud),50 U.S.C. § 1705 (International Emergency Economic Powers Act), and18 U.S.C. § 1956 (money laundering), and that the seizure was authorized by American statutes on civil and criminalasset forfeiture.[15][16]
On 4 April 2022,Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui signed an Order approving the seizure of the superyacht. Judge Faruqui concluded his order, stating "the seizure of the Target Property is just the beginning of the reckoning that awaits those who would facilitate Putin's atrocities. Neither the Department of Justice, nor history, will be kind to the oligarchs who chose the wrong side. […] The Department of Justice's seizure echoes the message ofthe brave Ukrainian soldiers of Snake Island."[17]
TheCivil Guard of Spain and U.S. federal agents of both theUnited States Department of Justice andthe United States Department of Homeland Security cooperated in seizing theTango inMallorca. AUnited States Department of Justice press release said that the seizure of theTango was by request of Task Force KleptoCapture.[18][19][10]
On 6 June 2022, the United States was authorized to seize two ofRoman Abramovich’s aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 and a Gulfstream G650ER worth more than $400 million. A United States press release said that the seizures were requested by theU.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, working with Task Force KleptoCapture.[9][20]
On 8 August 2022, a U.S. federal magistrate judge signed an order authorizing the United States to seize the private airplane ofAndrei Skoch, a sanctioned Russian oligarch and member of Russia'sDuma. U.S. press releases described the airplane as anAirbus A319-100, tail number P4-MGU, and valued at more than $90 million. The plane had previously been blocked by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The press release also noted that theU.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York had led the investigation in partnership with the KleptoCapture Task Force.[21][22]
In February 2024, US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced that the KleptoCapture Task Force had "restrained, seized, and obtained judgments to forfeit nearly $700 million in assets from Russian enablers and charged more than 70 individuals for violating international sanctions and export controls levied against Russia."[23]
On 5 February 2025, following the election ofDonald Trump, United States Attorney GeneralPam Bondi shut down Task Force KleptoCapture.[24]
Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Adams of the Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit is in charge of the forfeiture aspects of the case"
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