The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges Thursday against an American television producer accused of violating sanctions against a Russian oligarch related to Moscow's invasion of Crimea in 2014.
John Hanick, 71, faces up to 20 years in prison for working closely on the establishment of European television networks with the Russian oligarch, Konstantin Malofeyev, over several years — despite longstanding U.S. sanctions on the Russian elite, according to a DOJ press release.
Hanick, who previously worked for Fox News, was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York. He was provisionally arrested in London on Feb. 3, and the U.S. is seeking his extradition.
The DOJ said the case against Hanick marks the "first-ever criminal indictment" related to violations of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia following the 2014 Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.
“The Justice Department will do everything it can to stamp out Russian aggression and interference,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division in a statement.
The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled a KleptoCapture task force to enforce sanctions on the Kremlin and its allies for the brutal invasion of Ukraine launched last week.
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