Citigroup is being investigated by US government agencies for its ties to Approved Russian billionaire Suleiman Abusaidovich KerimovBloomberg News informed on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The Justice Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service are investigating the bank’s work with Delaware-based Heritage Trust, which owns Kerimov’s assets, the report said.
“The City is committed to conducting all business with the highest regard for compliance with all applicable laws and regulations,” a City spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement.
“At the same time, we are proactively winding down virtually all of our institutional banking business in Russia, except for operations necessary to meet remaining legal and regulatory obligations, while we move forward to wind down our Russian consumer banking business. are increasing.”
Part of the investigation is looking at Citigroup’s anti-money laundering policies and systems to prevent financial crimes, Bloomberg reports.
The DOJ, FBI and IRS did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The US imposed sanctions on Kerimov in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine.
The United States took enforcement action in 2022, imposing sanctions against the Heritage Trust over its interests in Russian oligarchs.
