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Billionaire Oleg Deripaska
Photo: OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska has been charged in the US with attempting to evade sanctions imposed on him.
On Deripaska's behalf, helpers tried to organize a trip for his girlfriend Ekaterina Olegovna Voronina to the USA.
This emerges from the complaint published by the US Department of Justice on Thursday.
The goal was that the couple's second child would also be born in the United States and thus automatically receive American citizenship.
If convicted, Deripaska - who was not in the US - could face up to 20 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.
US sanctions were imposed on Deripaska, one of the richest Russian oligarchs, in April 2018.
From that moment on, no American companies and citizens were allowed to do business with him - and the birth of the first child in 2020 was organized illegally from the US perspective.
At that time, Deripaska's girlfriend's trip to the birth followed by a month-long stay in Los Angeles worked without any problems.
However, when she tried again in early June this year, US border officials refused her entry.
According to the lawsuit, she initially identified the father of her two children as "Alec Deribasko" and referred to Deripaska as an acquaintance.
Confronted with a photo of Deripaska, she admitted that he looked like the father of her children.
In addition to Deripaska, his girlfriend and two helpers were also charged.
The 52-year-old aluminum billionaire is considered a close confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In Russia, since the beginning of the war of aggression against Ukraine, there has been massive anti-West sentiment, where sanctions have been imposed on many Russian oligarchs and companies.
mfh/dpa
