The U.S. and its allies are creating new teams to act on their vow to “seize and freeze” the giant boats, estates and other pricey assets of Russian elites, AP NEWS.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday for the first time convened a multilateral task force known as REPO, one of several new efforts dedicated to enforcing sanctions.
REPO - short for Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs - will work with other countries to investigate and prosecute oligarchs and individuals allied with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The group is now looking into 50 individuals, with 28 names publicly announced.
The effort faces several challenges, including varying laws across countries that could make legal discovery difficult and the risk of penalizing innocent people whose property may be tied up in an oligarch’s seized assets.