美国国家公共电台 NPR--Over the past year DOJ's Task Force Kleptocapture has been extremely busy

Over the past year DOJ's Task Force Kleptocapture has been extremely busy

Transcript¹

A Justice Department task force targeting Kremlin-aligned Russian oligarchs has seized more than $500 million of their riches — including everything from luxury yachts to opulent homes.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

A year ago, the Justice Department unleashed² a task force to target allies of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and their riches, from luxury yachts to opulent homes. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas brings us this update.

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE³: Less than a week after Russian tanks swept across the Ukrainian border, Attorney General Merrick Garland stood at the podium at the Justice Department to announce the creation of Task Force KleptoCapture. Its mission, he said, was to hold accountable Russian oligarchs trying to evade⁴ sanctions the U.S. and its allies had imposed in response to the Kremlin's invasion.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MERRICK GARLAND: We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute⁵ those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war.

LUCAS: And over the past year, the task force has kept busy. It's brought charges against at least 35 individuals and corporate⁶ entities⁷, a list that includes Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who's been accused of sanctions violations⁸. It's also brought charges against suspected Russian intelligence officers and individuals working with them to allegedly obtain advanced American technology that could be used by the Russian military.

LISA MONACO: We thought it was really important to go after, in the first instance, those individuals whose corruption¹⁰ has fueled the Russian war machine.

LUCAS: That's Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.

MONACO: And to send a very clear signal that we could work quickly with our partners and that we could set a pace for enforcement of these sanctions.

LUCAS: Part of that enforcement work has involved seizing some of the big-ticket items that Kremlin-aligned oligarchs have reaped from their allegedly ill-gotten gains. Last May, for example, the FBI assisted authorities in Fiji to seize a 348-foot luxury yacht that the U.S. says belongs to sanctioned oligarch Suleiman Kerimov. The $300 million vessel¹¹ now sits at a dock in San Diego. And just last week, the department filed a forfeiture¹² complaint for six properties worth an estimated $75 million in New York and Florida belonging to another oligarch. In all, Monaco tells NPR, the task force has seized, forfeited¹⁴ or otherwise restrained more than half a billion dollars in Russian oligarch assets over the past year. And the task force, she says, has now entered a second phase.

MONACO: Which is to go after the enablers, the facilitators, the companies that prop¹³ up and enable and facilitate the ability of these oligarchs to hide their wealth, to shield it, to evade sanctions.

LUCAS: A prime example of targeting so-called enablers is the case against Deripaska, who's been sanctioned for his alleged⁹ ties to the Putin regime. Deripaska and three women have been charged with conspiracy¹⁵ to violate U.S. sanctions. Part of the alleged scheme involved arranging for Deripaska's Russian girlfriend to give birth in the United States. Deripaska's U.S. attorney, Erich Ferrari, declined to comment on the case. But Ferrari says his office is fielding calls on a daily basis from Russians with sanctions-related questions.

ERICH FERRARI: It's been a huge jump. And I would say our caseload has doubled over the last year.

LUCAS: Some of the callers want advice on how to comply with sanctions, he says. Others are looking for help to get out from under the punitive¹⁶ measures. While the task force and the broader international effort has imposed a degree of discomfort¹⁷ on Kremlin-aligned oligarchs, there's little indication that it's prompted them to pressure Putin to pull back in Ukraine, as some Western policymakers had hoped. In part, says Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, that's because the people who matter most in Russia are those in charge of large, armed bureaucracies, like the army, the security services and the police.

ALEXANDER GABUEV: Everybody else is exactly people with means but without any protection from the system and just too afraid to be thrown into jail.

LUCAS: Back in the U.S., meanwhile, the Justice Department is moving forward with the first-ever transfer to Ukraine of money seized from a sanctioned oligarch. It's just over $5 million, which is, of course, a drop in the ocean of Ukraine's needs at the moment. But Monaco says it's just a start of putting oligarch riches to the benefit of the Ukrainian people.

Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

5 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

8 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

12 forfeiture   

n.（名誉等）丧失

参考例句：

• Both face maximum forfeitures of about $1.2 million.双方都面临最高120万美元左右的罚金。
• If he should break his day,what should I gain by the exaction of the forfeiture?如果他到期不还我从这罚金中又能得到什么好处？

13 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

14 forfeited   

（因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Because he broke the rules, he forfeited his winnings. 他犯规，所以丧失了奖金。
• He has forfeited the right to be the leader of this nation. 他丧失了作为这个国家领导的权利。

15 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

16 punitive   

adj.惩罚的，刑罚的

参考例句：

• They took punitive measures against the whole gang.他们对整帮人采取惩罚性措施。
• The punitive tariff was imposed to discourage tire imports from China.该惩罚性关税的征收是用以限制中国轮胎进口的措施。

17 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。