Block, Siteadmin, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, delete, edit, move, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, protect, rollback, Administrators, template
295,031
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 3:
Line 3: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
→Uranium One
==Uranium One==
==Uranium One==
:''Main article:'' [[Uranium One bribery scandal]]
:''Main article:'' [[Uranium One bribery scandal]]
===Mueller investigation===
According to court filings in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, in 2009, the [[FBI]] began an investigation into corruption and extortion by senior managers of Tenex, a subsidiary of Rosatom, a Russian entity.<ref>Government’s Response to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for Pre-Indictment Delay, United States v. Vadim Mikerin, Criminal No. TDC-14-0529 (D. MD) at 1. http://fcpa.stanford.edu/enforcement-action.html?id=583 </ref> [[Robert Mueller]] was FBI Director at the time the investigation into the Rosatom subsidiary began.<ref>
http://www.newsweek.com/how-robert-mueller-connected-probe-hillary-clintons-uranium-one-deal-688548 </ref>
The investigation began as an intelligence probe into Russian nuclear officials. Mueller's investigation also obtained an eyewitness account known as
CS-1 — backed by documents, recordings, and emails — indicating Russian nuclear officials routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President [[Bill Clinton]]’s foundation during the time [[Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] served on the Committee on Foreign Investment, a government body that provided the approval of the sale of Uranium One to Rosatom.<ref>http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/355749-fbi-uncovered-russian-bribery-plot-before-obama-administration </ref>
During the investigation, federal agents attempted to convince Mikerin to turn on his Russian colleagues by showing him evidence of relationships between “shell companies and other Russian energy officials, including President Vladimir Putin.” He refused to expose them and was subsequently arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy to extort kickbacks for lucrative contracts to transport imported uranium of dismantled Russian warheads to power plants within the United States.<ref>Joel Schectman, U.S. sentences Russian nuclear official to four years for bribe scheme, Reuters (Dec. 15, 2015). The “Megatons to Megawatts” program converted uranium from thousands of Russian nuclear warheads for civilian use in U.S.nuclear power plants.</ref>
TASS reported "the US authorities tried to exert pressure on Mikerin and persuade him to secretly cooperate against Russia." Mikerin's arrest was scheduled for early summer, but later in August the decision was overturned by prosecutors Rod Rosenstein and Adam Aik, according to the court documents. The appeal, signed by Rosenstein and Aik, urged Judge William Connelly to cancel Mikerin's arrest order since the law enforcement agents were allegedly hoping that Mikerin would secretly collaborate with them against high level Rosatom officials. In a statement to the press the US Attorneys office commented, "This is a sealed document, I'm not sure how it found its way into the proceedings," in an attempt to object to the defense discussing the motion publicly. Defense attorney Dan Hurson remarked "In my 40 years [of legal practice] I haven't seen anything like that."<ref>https://sputniknews.com/us/201411071014364045/ </ref>
The investigation found some kickbacks paid in cash and some in foreign wire transfers. From April 2009 to April 2011, the wire transfers went to Wiser Trading, registered in the Seychelles. From July 2011 to July 2013 - to the British Leila Global Limited account in a Latvian bank. And from August 2013 to May 2014 - to Ollins Development in the British Virgin Islands.
The Director of British Leila Global Denny Banger, a Latvian citizen, appeared as a nominal director in a hundred organizations. Latvian journalists, participants in the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), found Banger.<ref>Banger played on a basketball team for a Latvian bank and told reporters someone had used his personal information without his knowledge. The front companies identified in the Mikeran indictment are firms that receive money for third parties and transfer them for a fee, according to a partner of Paragon Advisory Group, Alexander Zakharov. They serve the interests of a different set of people.</ref> He was listed as the head of several firms related to the "Magnitsky case".
===Andrew Weissmann===
===Andrew Weissmann===
The plea agreement shows that the Obama DOJ’s Fraud Section was then run by Andrew Weissmann, who is now one of the top prosecutors in Robert Mueller’s special-counsel [[Trump-Russia investigation]].
The plea agreement shows that the Obama DOJ’s Fraud Section was then run by Andrew Weissmann, who is now one of the top prosecutors in Robert Mueller’s special-counsel [[Trump-Russia investigation]].