Boyle, Keating Introduce Transferring Illicit Assets to Ukraine Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-2) and Congressman Bill Keating (MA-9) introduced the House companion to S.1905, the Transferring Illicit Assets to Ukraine Actintroduced by Senator Joe Manchin (WV), which would significantly expand the Department of Justice’s ability to transfer assets seized from Russian oligarchs to Ukraine.
“For 700 days the men and women of Ukraine have valiantly defended their homes against Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion,” said Congressmen Boyle and Keating. “And as the people of Ukraine fight for their democracy, hundreds of millions of dollars in assets seized from the oligarchs fueling Putin’s war machine have sat frozen across the United States. We must do everything in our power to support the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom. That means passing this common-sense legislation to deliver these assets to Ukraine – and also passing an urgently needed supplemental funding package that honors our commitment to democracy around the world.”
Background
As of early 2023, the Department of Justice’s KleptoCapture Task Force has seized over half a billion dollars in assets connected to Russian oligarchs and sanctions evaders. However, under current law, most of these assets are ineligible to be transferred to Ukraine.
The Transferring Illicit Assets to Ukraine Act would expand DOJ’s existing authority to transfer to Ukraine the proceeds of forfeited assets from a violation of any sanction or export control involving Russia or Belarus pursuant to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (including the 2014 invasion of Crimea).
For example, properties belonging to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in NYC and Washington, DC, which are estimated to be worth $50 million, are ineligible under current law but would be covered under the Transferring Illicit Assets to Ukraine Act.
S.1905 was introduced by Senators Manchin, Graham, Blumenthal, and Rounds. Included as part of a manager’s package accompanying the REPO for Ukraine Act, the Transferring Illicit Assets to Ukraine Act passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 24, 2024.
The text of the Transferring Illicit Assets to Ukraine Act is available here and a fact sheet is available here.
Congressman Boyle is the Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, Co-Chair of the Congressional European Union Caucus, and Chair of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Political Committee.
Congressman Keating is the Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Europe subcommittee. He sits on the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific and the Armed Services subcommittees for Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation and Intelligence and Special Operations.
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