The Law Office on Tuesday examined cases concerning the possible violation of economic sanctions imposed by the US against Russian businessmen.
According to information from Phileleftheros, during the meeting, all open cases exceeding 40 were reviewed, with the Attorney General, Giorgos Savvides, expressing his satisfaction with the progress of the investigations.
According to the same information, it can be expected that the first cases to proceed to justice soon, while it is not excluded that others may follow.
At present, the Law Office has completed the files of three cases concerning the potential violation of sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs by the US, following Russia’s war against Ukraine.
For some of these cases where the study of the files has been completed, indictments will be prepared to initiate criminal prosecutions in court.
As mentioned in the meeting with the team of investigators from the Office for Economic Crime Investigation, the investigation into some cases is at an advanced stage and will soon be forwarded for study.
Among those where investigations have been completed is the case involving Russian magnate Alexey Mordashov, concerning the alienation of a substantial sum through stock transfers.
Relevant allegations have been made by foreign services, mainly from the US, to the Ministry of Finance and concern the possible violation of economic sanctions during the period immediately after their announcement and before their publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic.
What the Law Office is called upon to decide is whether the violation occurred during a grace period or falls within the timeframe from their publication in the state’s Official Gazette.
Sanctions take effect at the beginning of the first hour of the day of publication of the sanctions notice in the Official Gazette.
This means that some might not have been aware of their inclusion in the sanctions until their announcement.
It is noted that regarding the issue of investigating cases related to sanctions, experts from the FBI had recently come to Cyprus for guidance and expertise.
