Now that the Department of Justice has announced a crackdown on assets owned by Russian elites, it's reasonable to speculate whether the West Village home could be in the crosshairs.
"The whole problem with Russian oligarchs, they have the most sophisticated advisers in the world telling them the best way to hide their assets, and they use the most secretive jurisdictions," said investigative journalist and author Seth Hettena. The property’s deed says it is owned by a Delaware LLC called Lucina, but city tax records show a British shell company called Gracetown International pays the bills. That company is connected to another London firm called Terra Services, which Oleg Deripaska used to control. But when those 2018 sanctions hit, he turned control over to an associate.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that new sanctions directed at oligarchs are being used to add strategic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We want him to feel the squeeze, we want the people around him to feel the squeeze. I don’t believe this will be the last set of oligarchs [to be targeted].”
Time for some squatters
Find 'em, seize 'em and use 'em to house Ukrainian refugees!