View original document

The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.

7/1/2022

U.S. Treasury Blocks Over $1 Billion in Suleiman Kerimov Trust | U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. Treasury Blocks Over $1 Billion in Suleiman Kerimov Trust
June 30, 2022

Enforcement investigation unearthed oligarchʼs use of a network of relatives, advisers, and
opaque legal entities to invest in the United States

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasuryʼs O ice of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) announced it has issued a Notification of Blocked Property to Heritage Trust, a
Delaware-based trust in which OFAC-designated Russian oligarch Suleiman Abusaidovich
Kerimov holds a property interest. As of June 30, 2022, Heritage Trust holds assets valued at
over $1 billion. This action ensures that those assets remain blocked and inaccessible to
Kerimov.
OFACʼs Notification of Blocked Property formally communicates to Heritage Trust OFACʼs
administrative determination that Heritage Trust is subject to the same prohibitions
applicable to Kerimov. All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United
States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked
persons are prohibited, unless exempt or authorized by a general or specific license issued by
OFAC. These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods,
or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution
or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
Heritage Trust was formed in July 2017 for the purpose of holding and managing Kerimovʼs
U.S.-based assets. Kerimov is a member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of
the Russian Federation and was designated on April 6, 2018, pursuant to Executive Order
(E.O.) 13661, for being an o icial of the Government of the Russian Federation. Kerimov has
retained a property interest in Heritage Trust following his designation, which results in
Heritage Trust being blocked.
Additionally, Kerimovʼs nephew, Ruslan Gadzhiyevich Gadzhiyev, is a member of the
designated State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and Gadzhiyev was
designated on March 24, 2022 pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader,
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0841

1/2

7/1/2022

U.S. Treasury Blocks Over $1 Billion in Suleiman Kerimov Trust | U.S. Department of the Treasury

o icial, senior executive o icer, or member of the board of directors of the Government of the
Russian Federation. Gazhiyev is a beneficiary of Heritage Trust, and his continuing property
interest in Heritage Trust provides a separate and independent basis for Heritage Trust to be
blocked.
“Treasury continues using the full range of our tools to expose and disrupt those who seek to
evade our sanctions and hide their ill-gotten gains,” said Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen.
“Even as Russian elites hide behind proxies and complex legal arrangements, Treasury will use
our broad enforcement authorities, as well as our partnerships through the REPO Task Force,
to actively implement the multilaterally coordinated sanctions imposed on those who fund
and benefit from Russiaʼs war against Ukraine.”
This action follows an extensive enforcement investigation into Kerimovʼs U.S. holdings by
OFAC. These e orts revealed that Kerimov used a complex series of legal structures and front
persons to obscure his interest in Heritage Trust, the funds of which first entered the U.S.
financial system through two foreign Kerimov-controlled entities prior to the imposition of
sanctions against him. The funds were subsequently invested in large public and private U.S.
companies and managed by a series of U.S. investment firms and facilitators. Kerimov and his
proxies used various layers of U.S. and non-U.S. shell companies to hold formal title to assets
and to conduct transactions in a manner that concealed his interest.

###

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0841

2/2