DOJ Alleges Violations of Trade & Import Sanctions

On Wednesday, 08 March 2023, the United States announced the unsealing of a warrant for the seizure of a Boeing 737, registration RA-73455, owned by PJSC Rosneft Oil Company (Rosneft), a Russian integrated energy company headquartered in Moscow, Russia, and headed by Russian oligarch Igor Ivanovich Sechin.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York had found probable cause—deriving of violations of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) and sanctions levied against Russia in the wake of its belligerence against Ukraine—to seize the aircraft, a Boeing 737-7JU—better known in aviation circles as the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ).

The aircraft’s worth is estimated to be $25-million.

According to court documents, the aforementioned sanctions—issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security—impose export controls and license requirements to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests. Subject sanctions expanded prohibitions on the export, reexport or in-country transfer of U.S.-manufactured aircraft to or within Russia without a valid license or license exception for aircraft owned or controlled, or under charter or lease, by Russia and/or Russian nationals. Ergo, the Rosneft 737—insomuch as it was built by Boeing in the United States—is barred from entering Russia without a valid license.

Since the implementation of the Russian sanctions in February 2022, the Rosneft 737 has, in violation of U.S. federal law, left and reentered Russia at least seven times. The aircraft was last in the U.S. in March 2014, and is currently believed to be in, or traveling to or from, Russia.

The government’s case pertaining to the seizure of the Rosneft 737 is being investigated by the Eastern District of New York’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section and the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section. Assistant U.S. attorneys Francisco J. Navarro, Tara B. McGrath and Madeline M. O’Connor, and trial attorney Barbara Levy are leading the seizure matter.

The investigation was coordinated through the DOJ’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force established for purpose of enforcing U.S. and NATO sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Announced on 02 March 2022 by U.S. Attorney General and Biden administration yes-man Merrick Garland, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force ensures with dispatch and determination that Western-built X-Boxes, plasma-televisions, software updates, and mobile telephones remain safely out of the hands of the Russian people.

PJSC Rosneft Oil Company—stylized as ROSNEFT, a portmanteau of the Russian words Rossiyskaya neft (Russian oil) specializes in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, transport, and sale of petroleum, natural gas, and petroleum products. The company is controlled by the Russian government through the Rosneftegaz holding company. In addition to his leadership roles within the powerful energy concern, Rosneft president, CEO, and chairman Igor Ivanovich Sechin is a Russian government official and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

FMI: www.rosneft.com