According to the German Attorney General’s Office, the German government is seizing about EUR 720M from the bank account of a major Russian institution which had its assets frozen after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The funds were initially only frozen. However, according to German prosecutors, personnel from the unnamed Russian conglomerate attempted to withdraw the funds anyways. These movements prompted the German government to apply for seizure in July 2023. That application has been approved today. The announcement reads below:
”On July 7, 2023, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office submitted an application to the State Security Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main to open independent confiscation proceedings (Section 435 Paragraph 1 StPO in conjunction with Section 76a Paragraph 1 StGB). As part of this procedure, the account balance of a Russian financial institution at a Bank in Frankfurt am Main amounting to more than 720 million euros will be confiscated.
The application submitted essentially sets out the following facts:
The Russian financial institution in question was included in Annex I of the Russia Embargo Regulation (Regulation (EU) No. 269/2014) by the Council of the European Union on June 3, 2022. This resulted in a ban on the disposal of all of the company’s assets at European financial and credit institutions. Shortly after the listing, unknown officials at the Russian financial institution attempted to withdraw more than 720 million euros from its account at a bank in Frankfurt am Main. The bank did not execute the electronic transfer order.
The Customs Criminal Investigation Office was tasked with the investigation. The independent confiscation procedure was requested because no specific person can currently be prosecuted or convicted for the crime.”
