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John Hanick, a 71-year-old U.S. citizen, was discretely seized in London early last month, federal authorities disclosed with the unsealing of an indictment against him on Thursday, March 3.
Justice Department officials said they're seeking Hanick's extradition for helping Konstantin Malofeyev establish Tsargrad TV after the oligarch was sanctioned for his role in financing pro-Moscow separatists fighting in Eastern Ukraine.
Hanick also tried to create similar networks in Greece and Bulgaria, they said.
The indictment is part of the United States’ first-ever criminal prosecution for violating sanctions aimed at protecting Ukraine’s democracy from Russian aggression, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damien Williams said Thursday.
Hanick had worked at Fox News for 15 years, from its founding in 1996 through August 2011. He then moved to Moscow in 2013 to work for Malofeyev, the Justice Department said.
Malofeyev was placed under U.S. and EU sanctions a year later, but Hanick continued to work for him -- even wiring some of the payments he received to a bank account in New York, the indictment unsealed Thursday alleges.
Hanick left the network in 2017, then lied about his involvement with Malofeyev during an interview with the FBI in February 2021, it says.
Thursday's announcement comes a day after the Justice Department launched the KleptoCapture task force, designed to find and freeze assets of Russian oligarchs who've helped finance President Vladimir Putin's invasion.
Malofeyev has been “one of the main sources of financing for the promotion of Russia-aligned separatist groups operating in the sovereign nation of Ukraine,” Williams said.
Although sanctions prohibited U.S. citizens from working for or doing business with Malofeyev, Hanick worked directly with him on multiple TV projects over the course of several years, the U.S. attorney said.
“Hanick knowingly chose to help Malofeyev spread his destabilizing messages by establishing, or attempting to establish, TV networks in Russia, Bulgaria and Greece,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Hanick emailed Malofeyev in January 2015 that a draft policy for the Russian TV Network was meant “to implement your vision and to provide you with information for you to make decisions …,” the indictment returned in Manhattan says.
“You are the founder and chief architect of the project,” Hanick told Maofeyev. “We as board members have the responsibility to direct the staff to implement your instructions.”
The network went on the air in Russia around April 2015, the Justice Department said. Hanick reported to Malofeyev and was listed directly below him on organizational charts, federal authorities said.
He was variously described from 2015 through 2017 as “Board Chairman,” “General Producer,” “chairman of the HR committee,” and “General Advisor” for the Russian TV Network, they said.
Hanick also worked for Malofeyev on a project to establish and run a Greek television network and on efforts to acquire a Bulgarian television network, according to the indictment.
Questioned by the FBI, Hanick lied about his work for Malofeyev, it alleges. The bureau, in turn, charged him with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, leading to the indictment that was unsealed on Thursday.
The prosecution of Hanick “shows this office's commitment to enforcement of laws intended to hamstring those who would use their wealth to undermine fundamental democratic processes,” Williams said.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thane Rehn and Jessica Greenwood are handling the case for the government.
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