--- description: The U.S. government has for the first time directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption title: U.S. Accuses Putin of Corruption image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea244f087a4d72e8/69887a923c1639dcc245bb69/ap_345629882409.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The U.S. Is Point-Blank Accusing Vladimir Putin of Corruption ## Video: Know Right Now: Putin 'Probably' Arranged Killing Former Russian Spy [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Putin 'Probably' Arranged Killing Former Russian Spy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kiGyWymE.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2016-01-21_ by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 26, 2016 3:38 AM CUT  Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a meeting of the presidential education council in the Kremlin in Moscow on Jan. 21, 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin leads a meeting of the presidential education council in the Kremlin in Moscow on Jan. 21, 2016Alexei Nikolsky—AP by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 26, 2016 3:38 AM CUT The U.S. government has for the first time directly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption, the BBC [reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35385445 "undefined"). In an interview with the BBC program _Panorama_, U.S. Treasury official Adam Szubin said that the U.S. government has believed Putin to be corrupt for “many, many years.” The U.S. levied [sanctions](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA3O16720140429 "undefined") against Putin and his political allies in 2014, pointing to the President’s dubious investments in the energy industry but did not claim outright that he was corrupt at the time. “We’ve seen him enriching his friends, his close allies, and marginalizing those who he doesn’t view as friends using state assets,” Szubin, who oversees the Treasury’s sanctions, told the BBC. “Whether that’s Russia’s energy wealth, whether it’s other state contracts, he directs those to whom he believes will serve him and excludes those who don’t. To me, that is a picture of corruption.” He continued: “He supposedly draws a state salary of something like $110,000 a year. That is not an accurate statement of the man’s wealth, and he has long time training and practices in terms of how to mask his actual wealth.” One classified report written by the CIA in 2007 placed Putin’s personal wealth at $40 billion. The Kremlin has systematically dismissed accusations of Putin’s alleged malfeasance for years. The Russian President’s spokesperson told the BBC that the U.S. Treasury’s claims were “pure fiction.” \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35385445 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4193567/us-vladimir-putin-corrupt-corruption/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4193567/us-vladimir-putin-corrupt-corruption/"},"headline":"The U.S. Is Point-Blank Accusing Vladimir Putin of Corruption","datePublished":"2016-01-26T03:38:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:26:14.345Z","description":"A Kremlin spokesperson dismissed the claims as \"pure fiction\"","url":"https://time.com/4193567/us-vladimir-putin-corrupt-corruption/","keywords":["russia","politics","corruption","Vladimir Putin","Sanctions","United States"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea244f087a4d72e8/69887a923c1639dcc245bb69/ap_345629882409.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea244f087a4d72e8/69887a923c1639dcc245bb69/ap_345629882409.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vladimir Putin","caption":"Vladimir Putin","creditText":"Alexei Nikolsky—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4193567/us-vladimir-putin-corrupt-corruption/","name":"The U.S. Is Point-Blank Accusing Vladimir Putin of Corruption"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Putin 'Probably' Arranged Killing Former Russian Spy","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/kiGyWymE/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-01-21T16:58:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kiGyWymE.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4193567/us-vladimir-putin-corrupt-corruption/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4193567/us-vladimir-putin-corrupt-corruption/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```