The U.S. Treasury Department has unleashed a set of sanctions against State Duma Deputy Adam Delimkhanov over his alleged links to the Brothers' Circle transnational crime organization, a statement posted on the government agency's website said Wednesday.
According to the statement, the Brothers' Circle is a body that coordinates the actions of several criminal gangs operating in Europe, the Middle East, East Africa and Latin America. The Treasury sanctions entail the freezing of any U.S. assets owned by Delimkhanov, as well as those of 23 other alleged members of the group.
In 2009 Delimkhanov was accused of organizing the murder of Sulim Yamadayev, a former Chechen warlord who went over to the pro-Russian forces in 1999, but later fell out with the republic's new head Ramzan Kadyrov.
Ruslan Yamadayev, Sulim's brother, was murdered in central Moscow in September 2008. Sulim then moved to Dubai, but was murdered there in the garage of a luxury apartment complex in March 2009. Delimkhanov, who is said to be Kadyrov's cousin, was accused of being an accomplice to the murder by Dubai law enforcement authorities.
Interpol at the time issued an international warrant for Delimkhanov's arrest, but in 2012 the search was dropped after Dubai's chief prosecutor said that police there were no longer looking for Delimkhanov.
The deputy, who was elected to the State Duma in 2007, also made headlines last year when a golden gun fell out of his suit during a fight with fellow Duma Deputy Alexei Zhuravlev. The incident did not lead to any legal consequences.
See also:
Moscow Court Sanctions Arrest of Ukraine Tycoon Governor Kolomoisky
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