U.S. prosecutors charged a Russian citizen who was also a U.S. resident with facilitating a sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme in relation to billionaire Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, in an indictment unsealed in federal court on Tuesday, the Justice Department said.
Vladimir Voronchenko, 70, of Moscow, was accused of participating in a scheme to make payments totaling over $4 million to maintain four U.S. properties that were owned by Vekselberg, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Voronchenko, who resided at various times in New York, Florida, and Russia, held himself out as a successful businessman, art collector, art dealer, and close friend and business associate of Vekselberg, according to allegations in the indictment.
