the most egregious kleptocratic excess can be devilishly hard to establish to the satisfaction of the courts.

. London is full of lawyers experienced in asset-recovery litigation, and well versed in exploiting the difficulties of linking this pool of money to that crime. The most egregious kleptocratic excess can be devilishly hard to establish to the satisfaction of the courts. This may explain why the sanctions announced this week were against officials with undisputed links to Russian decision-making over Crimea.