On June 6, 2022, a magistrate judge in New York issued warrants to seize two U.S.-manufactured aircraft owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich based on probable cause to believe that they were re-exported from third countries to Russia after February 22, 2022 — the date when the re-export of such items to Russia was prohibited […]

In this application for a seizure warrant, an FBI agent explains the basis for seizing a yacht owned by a Russian oligarch on the ground that in evading sanctions imposed under IEEPA to pay for the maintenance of the vessel, the owner committed bank fraud, IEEPA and money laundering offenses, and that the yacht is […]

This is a summary and comment on the seizure of a yacht owned by Viktor Vekselberg, a sanctioned Russian Oligarch, on the ground that it constitutes the proceeds of bank fraud and violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and constitutes property involved in an international money laundering offense.  The article, excerpted from […]

This is the lecture outline used by Stef Cassella to train police and prosecutors in Malta on the application of the non-conviction-based forfeiture provisions in the Proceeds of Crime Act in June 2023. NCB Forfeiture in Malta 2023

The following is a transcript of the testimony of Stef Cassella before the South Carolina Civil Rights Commission on the use of the civil forfeiture laws.  The testimony explains how civil forfeiture works, gives examples of when it is used, and addresses the criticism that it is lacking in due process and is unfairly applied […]

This is a clip from an interview on March 3, 2022 concerning the use of the forfeiture laws to recover the assets of Russian oligarchs in response to the invasion of Ukraine.  

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated to the Supreme Court by President Biden, has written two significant opinions on federal asset forfeiture law.  One discusses the Government’s ability to obtain a forfeiture money judgment equal to the value of property used to facilitate a drug offense when that property is not available for forfeiture.  The other […]

I had the privilege of making six presentations at the 2021 Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.  In four of them, I used PowerPoint presentations.  In response to requests for copies of those presentations, I am posting them here. Workshop 20 – Non-Conviction-Based Forfeiture Cassella — Session 12 – Trade-Based Money Laundering Cassella – Session […]

As the seizure in May 2021 of the bitcoins used to pay the ransom in the Colonial Pipeline case makes clear, civil forfeiture is the vehicle that allows the Government to recover such property when the perpetrators remain unknown or abroad.  This article from several years ago by AUSA Shirley Emehelu (D.N.J.) explains how cryptocurrencies […]