Citigroup is being probed by US authorities businesses over its ties to sanctioned Russian billionaire Suleiman Abusaidovich Kerimov, Bloomberg Information reported on Thursday, citing an individual conversant in the matter.
The Division of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Inside Income Service are probing the financial institution’s work with Delaware-based Heritage Belief, which holds property owned by Kerimov, the report mentioned.
“Citi is committed to conducting all business with the highest consideration for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,” a Citi spokesperson instructed Reuters in an emailed assertion.
“At the same time, we are actively ending nearly all of our institutional banking business in Russia, except for those operations necessary to fulfill remaining legal and regulatory obligations, while we proceed with the closing of our Russian consumer banking business.”
Part of the investigation is wanting into Citigroup’s anti-money laundering insurance policies and methods in place to forestall monetary crimes, the Bloomberg report mentioned.
The DOJ, the FBI, and the IRS didn’t instantly reply to Reuters’ requests for remark.
Kerimov was sanctioned by the US in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine.
The US in 2022 had taken enforcement motion imposing restrictions towards Heritage Belief over pursuits held by the Russian oligarch.
