Attorney pleads guilty to aiding sanctioned Russian oligarch
By 
Adrianne Appel2023-04-27T20:12:00
A New York attorney faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to making payments to maintain U.S. properties secretly owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
Robert Wise was retained by Vladimir Voronchenko—an associate of Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian oligarch sanctioned by the United States in April 2018—to acquire luxury properties in the United States, according an information filed Tuesday by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Southern District of New York.
Between 2008 and 2017, Vekselberg obtained the properties by going through shell companies. Wise managed their finances, including paying insurance and property taxes, the DOJ said. The payments for the properties were taken from interest earned on Wise’s lawyer’s trust account, also called an IOLTA account.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT
You are not logged in and do not have access to members-only content.
If you are already a registered user or a member, SIGN IN now.
Related articles
-
News BriefPURE Insurance to pay $466K in OFAC sanctions case
Insurance organization Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange agreed to pay $466,200 as part of a settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control addressing alleged sanctioned transactions on behalf of designated Ukrainian-Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
-
News BriefSEC: Investment adviser to sanctioned Russian oligarch failed to register
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against New York-based Concord Management and its owner for operating as an unregistered investment adviser to a lone client: a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
-
PremiumABA resolution latest effort to separate lawyers from clients’ crimes
Under increasing pressure from federal lawmakers and regulators, the American Bar Association agreed to strengthen the obligations lawyers must meet when weighing whether to stop representing clients who might be using their services to commit financial crimes.
More from Regulatory Enforcement
-
ArticleSFO head to step down as speculation grows over future of agency
Nick Ephgrave, director of the U.K.’s main anti-corruption enforcement agency, the Serious Fraud Office, will retire at the end of March—about halfway through his appointed five-year term. Experts say he leaves the agency in a lot better position than he joined it in September 2023.
-
News BriefFTC puts GM’s puts connected vehicle data practices under compliance spotlight
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission finalized its order against General Motors and its OnStar subsidiary over the improper usage of geolocation and driving behavior data of drivers.
-
ArticleKaiser plans pay $556M to settle Medicare upcoding allegations
Kaiser Health affiliates have agreed to pay more than $556 million to settle allegations originally made by whistleblowers that they ignored compliance department warnings and unlawfully reworked diagnoses for Medicare patients in order to receive higher payments from the federal government.