OFAC Slaps $7 Million Fine on New York Property Firm Over Russia Sanctions Breach
05/12/2025
Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed a $7,139,305 penalty on Gracetown Inc., a New York-based property management company, for violating U.S. sanctions targeting Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.
According to OFAC, Gracetown
- Received 24 payments totalling $31,250 between April 2018 and May 2020 on behalf of a company ultimately owned by Deripaska, despite explicit prior notice that any dealings with him were prohibited under U.S. law.
- Failed to report blocked assets for more than 45 months, a requirement under federal sanctions regulations. [home.treasury.gov]
Deripaska, a metals magnate and founder of industrial giant Basic Element and aluminium producer Rusal, was sanctioned in April 2018 for acting on behalf of a senior Russian official and participating in Russia’s energy sector. The sanctions froze all property under U.S. jurisdiction and barred American entities from conducting business with him. [business-s…andard.com]
Gracetown, incorporated in 2006, managed three luxury properties in New York and Washington, D.C., linked to Deripaska. Despite receiving an OFAC compliance notice in 2018, the company continued to process monthly payments and “dealt in property in which Deripaska held an interest,” OFAC said in its enforcement release. [home.treasury.gov]
The penalty, close to the statutory maximum, reflects OFAC’s determination that the violations were “egregious” and not voluntarily disclosed. Gracetown could not be reached for comment, and a lawyer for Deripaska did not respond to inquiries. [business-s…andard.com]
This enforcement action comes amid heightened scrutiny of real estate transactions involving sanctioned individuals, which OFAC warns can pose significant money-laundering and sanctions-evasion risks. [fincrimecentral.com]
Sources
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