Chicago Data-Center Investor to Pay $11.5 Million Over Dealings With Sanctioned Russian Oligarch

IPI Partners, LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on acquiring, building and managing data-center facilities, has agreed to pay $11.5 million to resolve its civil liability stemming from 51 “apparent violations” of U.S. sanctions on Russia, the Treasury Department said in a statement. According to the department, the firm accepted and handled investments tied to Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov in 2017 and 2018 through a network of legal arrangements, and continued to hold those investments for roughly four years after Kerimov was added to the U.S. sanctions list in April 2018.

Treasury stated in its enforcement release that “IPI acted contrary to US foreign policy interests with respect to Russia by facilitating a sanctioned Russian oligarch’s access to, and use of, the US financial system in precisely the way that US sanctions seek to prevent.” The department added that IPI’s stewardship of the relevant fund effectively enabled Kerimov to benefit from a profitable venture and expand his wealth even after sanctions were imposed.

Blue Owl Capital Inc., which finalized its purchase of IPI Partners in January, emphasized that the conduct at issue predates its acquisition. The company said in a statement that “Blue Owl did not assume any liabilities related to this settlement,” and added, “No past or present Blue Owl employee was responsible for the relationship with the problematic investor.”

Founded in 2016 as a joint venture combining Iconiq Capital LLC and Iron Point Partners, IPI has not publicly commented on the matter; neither Iconiq nor Iron Point responded to inquiries. Kerimov, who also serves as a Russian senator, ranks as the 13th wealthiest individual in Russia with an estimated net worth of $10 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Previous reporting indicated that several U.S. agencies were scrutinizing Citigroup’s role as administrator of Heritage Trust as of late last year. Treasury has identified Heritage Trust as “a Delaware-based Kerimov family trust” created in 2017 to oversee the oligarch’s U.S. assets. The trust was formally blocked in 2022 after Treasury concluded that Kerimov maintained a property interest in its holdings despite his sanctioned status.

By fLEXI tEAM