Citigroup Inc. oversaw more than $1 billion worth of transactions for a Delaware-based trust that US authorities say a sanctioned Russian oligarch held a concealed stake in, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News.
Citigroup set up Heritage Trust in July 2017 with money that originated from billionaire Russian Senator Suleiman Kerimov, who was subsequently sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in April 2018. After the Treasury’s action, the bank administered more than $1 billion in transactions that included deposits into trust accounts and existing stakes in several US companies, including $57 million in Uber Technologies Inc. and $141.5 million in Snap Inc., according to the previously unreported documents.
As the trust’s administrative trustee, the bank also oversaw an investment in SpaceX held by Heritage Trust while Kerimov was sanctioned, Bloomberg previously reported.
Citigroup is under investigation by the Justice Department over its handling of Kerimov’s money, Bloomberg reported in November. A review of documents associated with the trust reveals the extent the bank went to — including engaging with lawyers and Treasury officials — to keep doing business with Heritage Trust lawfully after Kerimov’s designation, and the large value of the deals Citigroup facilitated. Treasury requires companies to freeze assets and transactions of sanctioned individuals and to report any frozen interest they have within 10 business days.
