In move to cut off money to Russia, DOJ to take 2 luxury condos away from Bal Harbour owners
BAL HARBOUR - The United States Justice Department filed a civil complaint to take luxury condominiums from the owners in Bal Harbour.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said the move is part of a larger effort to cut off money helping Russia wage war in Ukraine.
"The justice department filed a complaint to forfeit two Miami (area) luxury condos belonging to Russian Oligarch Victor Perevalov," Garland said in a YouTube video posted Thursday afternoon.
Home to high-rise, beachfront luxury, Bal Harbour's Ritz-Carlton tower has two, off-the-market condos worth a combined $2.5 million about to change hands by force.
"It's sad," Ingrid Jaehnig, who lives nearby said. "It's sad that you don't know who you're (living) next to."
"I find it hard to believe," Joseph Levy, who also lives nearby said.
In 2018, authorities put Perevalov on a sanctioned list that bans transactions on any of his properties. So, he used a Miami real estate agent to illegally transfer ownership of the Bal Harbour condos to a family member who was a minor, according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department.
The agent, identified only by the initials "R.S.", continued to pay property tax and lease the properties, according to the DOJ statement.
The actions violate federal money laundering statutes, federal prosecutors said.
Neighbors on the jetty behind the building sounded hurt after hearing the allegations.
"It breaks my heart but I'm not surprised because people are corrupt and try to get around things," Jaehnig said.
"This little jetty is a mix of fisherman, billionaires, every type of person and everyone gets along," Levy said. "There's no real classes here. No one gets preferential treatment. That's why I'm here almost every evening."
Investigators include the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department and DOJ's Task Force KleptoCapture. The task force also seized assets from and, in some cases, filed charges against people in Orlando, New York, Washington DC, and Georgia.
"We are pursuing every available option to transfer the funds we are forfeiting from the Kremlin's enablers to the Ukrainian people," Garland said in the YouTube video.
