U.S. confirms sanctions against singer Grigory Leps
MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - Moscow was informed in advance about the imposition of sanctions by the U.S. on a number of Russian citizens, including prominent pop singer Grigory Lepsveridze, known as Grigory Leps, the Vesti news portal reported with reference to U.S. Department of the Treasury spokesman John Sullivan.
Sullivan was quoted as saying that such notification was likely sent through the U.S. Embassy in Russia.
Valery Etnyukov, a Russian Interior Ministry representative in Washington, said nobody had contacted him on the matter.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury reported earlier that it "designated six individuals and four entities linked to the Brothers' Circle, a Eurasian crime syndicate." These individuals are Artur Badalyan, Grigory Lepsveridze, Vadim Lyalin, Sergey Moskalenko, Yakov Rybalskiy, and Igor Shlykov. They are suspected of maintaining links with Vladislav Leontyev and Gafur Rakhimov, whom the U.S. designated as influential members of criminal organizations back in February 2012.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury said Lyalin and Shlykov have Russian passports, Moskalenko is a citizen of Uzbekistan, and Rybalskiy a citizen of Israel. The statement did not specify Badalyan's and Lepsveridze's citizenship, saying only that the latter lives in Thailand. Sullivan confirmed, however, that the U.S. authorities are aware that Lepsveridze is a prominent Russian singer and songwriter, who is suspected of acting as a courier to deliver money on behalf of Leontyev.
Sullivan said he was not aware whether the six individuals in question had any assets in the U.S., as this information usually becomes available after the imposition of financial sanctions. In fact, such measures are primarily intended for banks to check the lists of their clients, and Washington presumes that not only U.S. but also foreign financial institutions should do so.
U.S. President Barack Obama identified the Brothers' Circle, along with other organizations, as a significant transnational criminal organization (TCO) and charged the Treasury Department "with pursuing additional sanctions against their members and supporters to undermine and interdict their global criminal operations" in 2011. The designation by the U.S. Treasury Department of an individual related to TCOs implies the freezing of their assets and businesses within the U.S. jurisdiction and prohibition of any transactions with them by U.S. persons.