Bank accounts held by a British businessman have been frozen following allegations they contain money linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it had obtained two account freezing orders relating to five accounts held by Graham Bonham-Carter.
The NCA said in a statement: “We can confirm that the NCA has obtained two account freezing orders relating to five bank accounts held by Mr Graham Bonham-Carter.
“The orders were obtained on the basis that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the money in the accounts came from the laundering of funds from a sanctioned individual in the United States, namely Oleg Deripaska.
“The accounts contain funds with a total value of approximately £110,000.
“This is an ongoing investigation and we are not commenting further at this time.”
Mr Deripaska, whose fortune is currently estimated at three billion dollars (£2.3 billion) according to Forbes magazine, founded the aluminum company Rusal and is considered an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mr. Deripaska in 2018 in response to Russian activity, including instigating “violence in eastern Ukraine…and malicious cyber activity.”
According to the Associated Press, the oligarch called for an end to the war in Ukraine, writing on the Telegram messaging service that “peace is very important” and that talks to end the war should begin “as soon as possible”.
