Oyogist has learned that a group of bipartisan senators have presented a bill to strip Vladimir Putin off from the $132 billion Russia holds in gold reserves.
The bill, which was introduced by Senators; Angus King, I-Maine, John Cornyn, R-Texas, Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., and Maggie Hassan D-N.H., seeks to apply secondary sanctions to anyone transacting with or transporting gold from Russia’s central bank holdings or selling gold physically or electronically in Russia.
Although sanctions against Russia have frozen the nation’s foreign exchange assets, the kremlin are laundering money through gold.
The senators say the Russian Federation is currently purchasing gold to offset the devaluation of its currency, then selling the gold on international markets to get ahold of high-value currency.
‘Russia has taken a page out of Venezuela’s book by exploiting a loophole in current sanctions that allows them to launder money through the purchase and sale of gold,’ said Cornyn in a statement.
Russia’s current gold assets amount to $132.3 billion.
