The German authorities want to seize more than 720 million euros of Russian funds frozen in Germany as part of the sanctions introduced after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The chief prosecutor indicated in a statement today that he has launched a procedure before the court in Frankfurt in which an “independent confiscation procedure” is requested.
“The goal of this procedure is to confiscate more than 720 million euros deposited by a Russian financial institution in a bank account in Frankfurt for, as it is assumed, an attempt to violate the embargo,” the statement said. The funds in question belong to the Moscow Stock Exchange and were deposited with the German branch of JP Morgan Chase, according to the German Der Spiegel.
German authorities launched the procedure after the Russian stock market tried to take over the funds, which has been banned since sanctions were imposed in 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The prosecutor added that the request was submitted to the court in July of this year.
So far, Germany has limited itself to freezing the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies. But if this request of the prosecution is approved, the funds will be transferred to the German federal budget. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Western allies froze more than 300 billion euros of the Russian central bank and various assets belonging to sanctioned individuals or entities, worth tens of billions of euros.
