Comparative Prison Law and Prison Transfer Agreements
![handle is hein.journals/ielr38 and id is 357 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL ENFORCEMENT LAW REPORTER - Volume 38, Issue 8
helicopter's tail number is 3A-MGU; and
the yacht's name is the Madame Gu.
Flight records for the Airbus show
that Andrei Skoch frequently flew of the
Airbus immediately prior to his designation
on the SDN List. He flew on the Airbus at
least approximately 53 times, between
January 1, 2017 and April 3, 2018,
approximately three days before his SDN
designation. After Skoch's designation, his
name no longer appears on flight records
for the Airbus, suggesting an effort to hide
his connection to and ownership of the
Airbus.
Invoices sent by the private, air
charter company based in Europe that
operated and managed the Airbus to
Coberg and Velborg in 2017 show
[o]perating aviation services for Mr. A.
Skoch. Subsequent to Skoch's
designation, his name no longer appears on
invoices for the Airbus, suggesting an
effort to hide Skoch's connection to and
ownership of the Airbus.'
After OFAC designated Skoch in
April 2018 and continuing through at least
2021, U.S. dollar transactions were made to
pay for the registration of the Airbus in
Aruba and for aviation insurance premiums
for the Airbus, each of which was required
to maintain and operate the Airbus.
Seizure Warrant Authority
The seizure warrant is based on
the fact that, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §
981(a)(1)(A), any property, real or person,
involved in a transaction or attempted
6 Id, paragr. 23-26.
7 Id., paragr. 32-36
8 U.S. Department of justice, supra.
transaction, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
1956, or any property traceable to such
property, is subject to civil forfeiture.
Property involved in a money
laundering offense includes any property
used to facilitate the offense and the assets
of businesses or shell companies which are,
as entities, involved in the laundering
offenses.
In her affidavit in support of the
seizure warrant, Gina Makowski, Special
Agent, U.S. Department of Commerce,
Bureau of Industry and Science, submitted
probable cause exists to believe that the
Airbus is subject to seizure and forfeiture,
pursuant to § 981(a)(1)(A), as property
involved in a transaction or attempted
transaction in violation of 18 U.S.C. §
1956, or property traceable to such
violation.7
Analysis
The Justice Department's Task
Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law
enforcement task force dedicated to
enforcing the sanctions, export controls and
economic countermeasures that the U.S.
and its foreign allies have imposed in
response to Russia's military invasion of
Ukraine, coordinated the investigation.
The granting of the seizure
warrant illustrates the ability of U.S. law
enforcement to trace beneficial ownership,
even in complex structuring situations, as is
the case of the Airbus, yacht, helicopter,
and villa of Mr. Skoch.
9 RFE/RL, U.S. Seeks To Seize $90 Million Jet
Belonging To Russian Olzgarch, REUTERS, August 8, 2022.
The U.S. had already revealed it
was seeking to seize a $156 million
superyacht belonging to Skoch. The 98-
meter yacht is registered in the Cayman
Islands but has most recently been docked
at Port Rashid in Dubai. 9 Until now,
Dubai and the U.A.E. have not cooperated
in terms of applying oligarch sanctions.
This case illustrates how
governments can not only block assets of
oligarchs, but also move to forfeit some of
their assets.
XII. COMPARATIVE
PRISON LAW AND
PRISONER TRANSFER
AGREEMENTS
Harsh Prison Realities in the
Caribbean
By Ivelam Lloyd Gnffith
The circumstances of prisons in
the Caribbean were spotlighted this past
July 5 and 6 at a conference on penal
reform held in St. Kitts and Nevis. The
conference was organized by IMPACT
Justice, a Barbados-based program funded
by the Canadian government and headed by
Professor Velma Newton, a former law
dean at the Cave Hill campus of the
University of the West Indies.1 The
conference, which I had the honor to chair,
had several aims, including to highlight
access to justice and other issues within the
prison sector, such as inmate treatment,
i For a comprehensive examination of IMPACT
Justice, see IMPACT lustice Proj4ct
(caribbeanim.actom).
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