The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) penalized a New York-based property management firm, Gracetown Inc., for violating sanctions against Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
According to Bloomberg, The firm accepted approximately two dozen payments between 2018 and 2020 on behalf of a company owned by Deripaska.
The Treasury noted that Gracetown had been explicitly notified to comply with sanctions when they were first issued against Deripaska nearly eight years ago. Despite this, the firm arranged monthly payments with the oligarch’s entity and failed to report their dealings with property in which he held an interest.
Deripaska acquired Gracetown around the time of its establishment in 2006 and remained its primary beneficial owner until he was blacklisted due to his ties to Vladimir Putin. Gracetown was incorporated by British businessman Graham Bonham-Carter (a second cousin of actress Helena Bonham Carter). He was separately arrested in 2022 for wire fraud and conspiracy to violate sanctions related to Deripaska.
Records indicate Gracetown managed property taxes for a Greenwich Village townhouse linked to Deripaska since 2013.
Oleg Deripaska has been the subject of multiple US investigations. These include allegations that he violated sanctions to ensure his children were born in the US, and an FBI probe into money laundering that resulted in the seizure of luxury assets, including a Diego Rivera painting, from his US homes.
