Investigators are working to identify "specific officials of American government bodies" involved in the decision to freeze the funds, Petrenko said. The committee did not specify which criminal article the case was opened under.
Malofeyev, the founder of the Tsargrad television channel, wrote on Telegram that former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former President Joe Biden were behind the "theft" of his money. He alleged they "created in 2021-2024 an organized criminal group to embezzle state property of Russia and the property of our citizens." The businessman also said the case was opened under articles covering large-scale theft and organizing the financing of terrorism.
The case concerns $5.4 million held in an account at Sunflower Bank in Denver. The funds were blocked in 2022, when Malofeyev was accused of trying to circumvent sanctions and transfer an investment portfolio to a Greek business partner by backdating the transaction. In 2023, a court ordered the money confiscated, after which Garland authorized its transfer to the State Department "to support the people of Ukraine."
The State Department said the funds would go not directly to the Ukrainian Armed Forces but to support combat veterans. According to Malofeyev, a total of about $10 million was seized, of which $5.4 million was handed to Ukraine and the rest was allegedly divided among members of the "group," including Biden. The Investigative Committee did not name a figure for the "illegally frozen" funds.
Sanctions against Malofeyev were imposed in 2014 over his role in the annexation of Crimea and the organization of the conflict in Donbas. The United States has not yet commented on the criminal case. According to Meduza, the decision to confiscate his money was the first since the creation of the KleptoCapture group at the U.S. Justice Department in 2022.