Whitehouse, Graham Legislation to Facilitate Seizure and Transfer of Russian Oligarch Assets to Aid Ukraine Moves Closer to Becoming Law in NDAA
Bipartisan measure would allow DOJ to more quickly seize Russian oligarchs’ private jets, yachts, and other high-value assets for delivery to aid Ukraine
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), two of the leading Senate champions for Ukrainian victory in Ukraine’s war against Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion, today announced that their Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act was included as part of a manager’s amendment to the Senate’s FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act.
The bipartisan measure would allow the Department of Justice to seize high-value assets owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs more quickly through existing administrative forfeiture processes and then transfer the proceeds from their sale to Ukraine. The Senate’s NDAA proposal now heads to negotiations with the House version of the bill that passed in June.
“For years, Putin and his oligarch stooges laundered their stolen wealth by purchasing super-yachts, private jets, and high-priced art in rule-of-law nations across the world. Streamlining the seizure and transfer of sanctioned oligarchs’ loot will support the people of Ukraine and punish Putin’s allies for their embrace of the illegal war,” said Whitehouse. “I’m very pleased this important bipartisan amendment was included in the Senate NDAA, and I’ll fight to ensure this measure stays in the bill as deliberations with the House proceed.”
“I am so pleased that we are one step closer to changing our laws — in a bipartisan way — to make Russian oligarchs pay for the ill-gotten gains they have acquired over the years. This provision will make it more likely that Russian oligarchs, who have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian and Ukrainian people, will be held accountable. It will also be beneficial to the American taxpayer if the U.S. government is allowed to seize these assets. This legislation would be a major step forward in holding Putin and his cronies accountable for their thievery, and I’m hopeful we can get it across the finish line,” said Graham.
The amendment was cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jim Risch (R-ID), and Michael Bennet (D-CO).
Russian oligarchs have played a major role in financing Russian aggression while profiting personally from their alliance with the Putin regime. The bipartisan, bicameral Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, first introduced in March 2022, would aid Ukraine by lifting the $500,000 cap on administrative forfeitures for assets owned by Russian oligarchs and others that aid the Russian government in violation of U.S. laws. This would allow the government to proceed “in rem” against the asset, however obscured its ownership trail may be through offshore accounts and shell corporations. The measure would also clarify that the U.S. government can transfer to Ukraine all the funds it acquires through seizure of Russian oligarch assets.
In late 2022, Whitehouse and Graham passed bipartisan legislation into law to allow for the first time the transfer of seized assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his corrupt oligarchs to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Over $5.5 million has been transferred to Ukraine so far, with hundreds of millions of seized assets in the pipeline. Whitehouse, Risch, Graham, Blumenthal, and Bennet also secured the inclusion of their bipartisan REPO for Ukrainians Act in the national security supplemental that passed into law in April 2024. The law now allows the seizure of frozen Russian sovereign assets, to repurpose them for rebuilding Ukraine.
The full text of the amendment is available here.
