Winston Secures Rare Lifting of Sanctions & Access to Frozen Assets for Terminally Ill Client

Thanks to a dedicated team of D.C. lawyers, our client, who is in the final stages of cancer, was removed from the Treasury Department’s sanctions list and can now access her bank account and use her health and life insurance policies. In addition, she now has peace of mind that her family will be provided for after she passes away.

The U.S. government sanctioned our client, who is a lawyer, and froze her assets for allegedly enabling Russian elites to circumvent sanctions and maintain access to the global financial system through offshore structures in Cyprus and the United Kingdom. In response, Winston filed a delisting petition in 2022 arguing that our client had set up legal structures for the sanctioned Russians only before her clients were sanctioned. 

After years of delay, the Winston team filed suit against the Treasury and State Departments in August of 2025. The Justice Department, on behalf of the State Department and the Treasury, asked for a stay while State focused on the delisting petition. Ultimately, the State Department agreed to the delisting rather than continue with litigation.

“This is an extremely important win for our client and for the legal profession. It is rare for an attorney to be sanctioned in this way and even rarer for the U.S. government to delist an individual,” said Washington, D.C. partner Christopher Man. “We are grateful to have played a role in delivering some peace of mind to our client during her last days.” 

Congratulations to the Washington, D.C. team: Christopher Man, Mariana Pendás Fernández, and Cari Stinebower.

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