Justice Department Hiring Dozens of New Prosecutors to Enforce Russian Sanctions

INA-  sources 

The Biden administration is expanding its cadre of federal agents probing violations of sanctions and export controls against Russia, top officials said Thursday, as the U.S. seeks to shut down holes in the West’s economic pressure campaign.
The Justice Department’s move adds 25 new prosecutors to its counterintelligence and exports controls section, part of its broader ongoing effortto ensure that companies and other third-parties aren’t helping Russia evade U.S. sanctions, Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen said.
The new prosecutors will work with corporations to investigate sanctions and export control evasion, and also bring criminal charges against companies when they commit violations, he said. Some of the additional prosecutors are new hires, while some are being reallocated from different sections, according to officials.
“Corporations are on the front lines, often seeing these violations in the first instance,” said Mr. Olsen. 
The hiring spree, which is already under way, follows the unveiling in February of a task forcefocused on the enforcement of export controls—regulations designed to keep sensitive technologies out of the hand of foreign adversaries.

The Justice, Commerce and Treasury Departments are increasingly collaborating in a campaign to ensure sanctions and export control measures imposed on Russia and other adversaries, such as China and Iran, are having the fullest impact, officials said at an American Bar Association conference in Miami on Thursday.

The U.S. and its Western allies last year imposed a cordon of international trade and financial restrictions on Russia, aiming at strong-arming the Kremlin into pulling its forces out of Ukraine. Moscow in response has recruited public and private companies from nations such as Iran, China and Turkey to evade the economic blockade, according to administration officials.
Russia’s efforts to evade sanctions have placed pressure on the West to stem the financing and the import of sensitive items such as computer chips and radar equipment that are still flowing into the country. Without a meaningful enforcement of the blockade, officials say, Russian President Vladimir Putin will be able to maintain his grip on power and continue prosecuting the war.
The administration last year initiated a second phase of the pressure campaign meant to enforce the punitive actions, targeting the individuals and companies allegedly supporting Russia. Some analysts and lawmakers say the West’s efforts have been frustrated by uncooperative governments unaligned with Washington, limited resources and sophisticated evasion strategies that have evolved over two decades of Western sanctions regimes.
Senior officials, including from the State, Treasury, Justice and Commerce Departments, have jetted around the globe trying to coax reluctant governments to bolster the enforcement efforts and providing technical assistance and intelligence to shut down those flows. Mr. Olsen and other officials at the ABA conference on Thursday sought to highlight their efforts to work together and with counterparts abroad on the West’s sanctions campaign.
As part of those ongoing efforts, the administration on Thursday issued a third joint advisory to the private sector. The advisory is designed to warn companies of legal risks of violating the sanctions and export controls, to educate banks and other firms on how to spot potential evasion, and to be on guard against malign actors seeking to help Russia evade sanctions.

source: the Wall Street journal