"JOHN HANICK, a/k/a 'Jack Hanick,' a United States citizen, is charged with violations of United States sanctions and false statements in connection with his years-long work for the sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev," the Justice Department said in a press release.
The release said Hanick was arrested on February 3 in London and will be extradited. It further noted that development marked the "first-ever criminal indictment charging a violation of United States sanctions" stemming from 2014 sanctions.
"As alleged in the indictment, the Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev was previously sanctioned for threatening Ukraine and providing financial support to the Donetsk separatist region," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division in a statement accompanying the release.
"The defendant Hanick knowingly chose to help Malofeyev spread his destabilizing messages by establishing, or attempting to establish, TV networks in Russia, Bulgaria, and Greece, in violation of those sanctions.”
The US government designated Malofeyev in December 2014 under Crimea-related sanctions, the release said.
Hanick faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, the release said.