How Russian mafia launders money in America

Attorney Michael Cohen, who works for US President Donald Trump, in the year 1999 received $ 350 thousand for one of the leaders of the Izmailovo criminal gang. About this in the exclusive material for publication "GORDON" wrote the Russian-American historian, author of the book “The FSB is Exploding Russia” Yuri Felshtinsky. Based on more than a hundred archival documents from American courts that are publicly available in the United States, the expert claims that Russian hockey player Vladimir Malakhov was used in the scheme, and the whole story became known by accident, because of a check that became the subject of legal proceedings. All supporting documents are at the disposal of the editors of the publication "GORDON". ForumDaily publishes an investigation by Yuri Felshtinsky with the permission of the editors of the publication GORDON.

Michael Cohen received a check for $ 350 thousand from a Russian hockey player Vladimir Malakhov who lived in Miami.

Michael Cohen, involved in the recent attempt to implement the so-called "Russian-Ukrainian peace plan" of Felix Sater and Andrei Artemenko, which has been extensively reported in the world press, has been a confidant of Russian organized crime since at least 1999 and has been laundering money for Russian citizens associated or suspected of having links with the Russian mafia.

This follows from 2006 – 2011’s materials stored in the judicial archives of the United States.

In particular, 19 January 1999, Michael Cohen received from Russian Miami-based hockey player Vladimir Malakhov, who played 1999 – 2000 for clubs in Canada, New Jersey and New York, a check for $ 350 thousand.

A check for $ 350 thousand addressed to Michael Cohen. Photo: Yuri Felshtinsky

Cohen placed this check on one of his attorney’s accounts, but in 2006, quite by chance, he became the subject of litigation.

2 May 2007 of the year after a preliminary telephone conversation Michael Cohen received a letter from lawyer Mark Wolf on this topic:

“The purpose of this letter is to consolidate and summarize our conversation today, as well as to confirm the information that you have provided us over the past week on the mentioned issue.

As you know, we have on hand a check for the amount $ 350 thousandwritten in the name of Michael Cohen, residing at Michael Cohen, Esq., 500 West 56 Street, New York, NY 10019. You have read the copy of the front and back of the check, as well as the first page of the complaint (including a description of the case) that we submitted.

After reviewing, you stated that you really held this position at the time of the check (1 / 19 / 99) and that at that time you were the only Michael Cohen in the organization. Otherwise, you know nothing about this episode, and you are not familiar with the other participants in this process. You state that you had nothing to do with this transaction. You also stated that the endorsement on the back of the check is not your signature.

You also said that you were not familiar with the account numbers on the check, but you asked your accountant to check if you were associated with any of those accounts. If the audit shows that you were associated with any of these accounts, we would like to know whether that check was deposited into such accounts and how you ultimately handled those funds.”

In other words, in a telephone conversation with lawyer Wolf, Cohen said that he didn’t know anything about the check, that the signature on the back of the check was not his, and that the account number on which he had laid the check was unknown to him. In short, Cohen said he did not receive $ 350 thousand.

Vladimir Malakhov, on whose behalf the check came, played for the hockey teams of the USSR and Russia, Russian and American clubs. Olympic champion, Stanley Cup winner. Photo: cska-hockey.ru

21 May Cohen received a second letter from Wolf informing Cohen that he was required to give formal affidavit concerning the check. The letter indicated that Cohen voluntarily gave this testimony had already refused, and he would be called in for questioning in court:

As I mentioned in our past conversations, we will need you to testify on this case. [...] You stated that you did not want to do this voluntarily, and we began the process of drawing up the agenda through the courts of New York. I am informing you that we will also require the presentation of your bank documents, in particular, regarding this check.

We assume that the testimony may take place in July or in August, and we will be happy to appoint a date and place convenient for you. In this regard, I ask you to contact us in the near future to discuss the schedule. Otherwise, we will have to choose the date and place ourselves and draw up the appropriate agenda.

6 June 2007, the testimony was scheduled for August 3, at: 1350 Broadway, Suite 1407, in New York. Cohen was asked to provide the following documentation:

1. A copy of all documents regarding receipt of 1062 check from 19 in January 1999 of the year issued from Vladimir Malakhov's account No. 3101147115 in Citibank, Federal Saving Bank, Sunrise, Florida and payable to Michael Cohen for $ 350 thousand, including, among other things , receipts, accounting cards, trust accounts, service accounts, escrow accounts, customer accounts, customer statements, and electronic accounting records and reports.
2. Copies of all documents regarding account No. 250048213 from January 19 1999 of the year to February 18 of the year 1999, including, among other things, monthly account statements.
3. All incoming and outgoing correspondence with respect to check No. 1062 from 19 in January 1999 of the year issued from Vladimir Malakhov's account No. 3101147115 in Citibank, Federal Saving Bank, Sunrise, Florida and payable to Michael Cohen in the amount of $ 350 th.
4. All documents regarding the disposal of funds received by check No. 1062 from 1 in January 1999 of the year, issued from Vladimir Malakhov's account No. 3101147115 in Citibank, Federal Saving Bank, Sunrise, Florida, payable to Michael Cohen in the amount of $ 350 th. account No.250048213, including, but not limited to, revoked checks, client’s accounting cards, trust books, books on escrow accounts, orders for cashless transfer of funds and correspondence.

Letters sent to Cohen by lawyers. Photo: Yuri Felshtinsky

Letters sent to Cohen by lawyers. Photo: Yuri Felshtinsky

Letters sent to Cohen by lawyers. Photo: Yuri Felshtinsky

Letters sent to Cohen by lawyers. Photo: Yuri Felshtinsky

Cohen pulled the evidence as best he could, resorting to various tricks. In the end, he was forced to appear before the 17 court on September 2007 of the year, at the address indicated earlier in New York. He gave testimony by phone.

Obviously, Vladimir Malakhov knew someone with whom I was connected, and the only person who came to mind was Simon Garber, who, by the way, is also a Russian

However, Cohen did not provide the court with any papers and documents, and answered the questions asked to him in monosyllables. He admitted that he received $ 350 thousand from Malakhov in January 1999, and confirmed that in 1998 – 1999 years he had customers from Russia, but noted that he did not go to Russia in these years and, as far as he remembered, I transferred money there or to Ukraine from my accounts. Here with some abbreviations of Cohen’s testimony:

QUESTION: Today you appeared here on the basis of your order to appear in court with the submission of documents, right?

ANSWER: Right.

QUESTION: Appendix A of the court appearance order listed four categories of documents you had to collect, right?

ANSWER: Right.

QUESTION: Did you conduct a thorough search of these documents?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: Have you collected the documents listed in the order?

ANSWER: No. [...]

QUESTION: Please tell me: in what field or in what areas of law did you work in 1999?

ANSWER: On 90% these were cases of negligence and on 10% - protection. I also worked in the taxi industry. At that time we worked with the protection of taxi drivers and with cases of property damage. [...]

QUESTION: Mr. Cohen, we provided you with a copy of the check drawn in January 1999 of the year in your name, Vladimir Malakhov. Do you have this check?

ANSWER: Yes. [...]

QUESTION: Mr. Cohen, do you remember how you got this check in 1999?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Regarding the said search, the items listed in the order include documents relating to this check. I would like you to confirm: you could not find any documents related to the check or related to it?

ANSWER: That's right.

QUESTION: Does this concern the records of the placement of this check and the records of other transactions with it?

ANSWER: That's right. [...]

QUESTION: Mr. Cohen, do you recognize the signature on the check?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: You can not say whether it is your signature?

ANSWER: You asked about the signature. There are two signatures on the check.

QUESTION: I beg your pardon. On the front side the signature of the exhibitor, and on the back side confirming the inscription. Do you recognize your signature in the confirmation letter?

ANSWER: Yes. May be.

QUESTION: You are not sure?

ANSWER: I don't know, but maybe.

QUESTION: Let me ask you: have you kept proper records on your trust account since you became a lawyer in New York?

ANSWER: Yes. [...]

QUESTION: Mr. Cohen, let me ask you: on what grounds could someone send a check to your trust account in 1999?

ANSWER: I do not know. [...]

QUESTION: You do not know why someone could send a check to your trust account?

ANSWER: I do not know what is being said. That was in 1999. I do not remember.

QUESTION: On what grounds would you get a bill sent to your trust account in 1999? [...] Maybe there is another place or another thing that could include a check drawn on your trust account?

ANSWER: At that time in 1999, I was an acting advisor to a foundation called Ukrainian Capital Growth Fundwhich was also located at this address. [...] In addition, nothing. I do not know what else could be the connection.

QUESTION: You testify that, possibly, a check drawn on your trust account was issued for the purpose of placing in the fund Ukrainian Growth Fund?

ANSWER: It is possible.

QUESTION: In your law practice in 1999, did you work with others: partners, companions, employees?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Beyond the foundation Ukrainian Growth Fund, were you doing anything other than legal practice in 1999?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: What?

ANSWER: Taxi firm in New York.

QUESTION: Was it separate from your legal practice?

ANSWER: Yes. But the firm was located in the same building.

QUESTION: What were your duties in a taxi company?

ANSWER: I was the boss.

QUESTION: What did the company do?

ANSWER: She ran a 260 taxi in New York.

QUESTION: I see. Could this check be related to that firm?

ANSWER: [...] Yes, it is possible.

QUESTION: Were other people involved in a taxi company? [...]

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: Who was it?

ANSWER: I only had one partner. Simon Garber. [...]

QUESTION: Did you go to Moscow in 1999 year?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Did you go to Russia in 1999 year?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Have you ever been to Russia or Ukraine?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: Were you there in 1998 year?

ANSWER: No. [...]

QUESTION: Do you remember, you had clients from Russia [...]?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: In 1998 or 1999 year?

ANSWER: Did I have clients from Russia?

QUESTION: Yes.

ANSWER: This also concerns the negligence cases that I conducted?

QUESTION: Yes. Did you have customers from Russia? Yes.

ANSWER: Then yes.

QUESTION: And there were cases when you had to send money in the framework of negligence cases or any other cases to your Russian clients outside the US?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: Do you testify that you have never sent or transferred money outside the United States to Russian clients from your trust account?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: [...] You know why this check No.1062 [...] was written in the name of Michael Cohen, and not to your law firm?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: What is written in the note? Can you read what is written in the note to the check?

ANSWER: It says: «Escrow account«.

QUESTION: Did you have any escrow accounts for your clients at that time?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: In New York, are trust accounts sometimes called escrow accounts?

ANSWER: Yes.

QUESTION: Do you have reason to believe that a check was not deposited into your escrow account or your trust account?

ANSWER: I do not understand your question.

QUESTION: According to the inscription on the back of the check, it was deposited into your trust account, right?

ANSWER: Yes, that's right.

QUESTION: Do you remember any negligence cases or any other cases involving Vladimir Malakhov?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: You testify that you do not know why someone Vladimir Malakhov wrote you a check for $ 350 thousand. in January 1999 of the year?

ANSWER: I do not remember.

QUESTION: Fund facilities Ukrainian Capital Growth Fund have been combined with funds in a trust account of your law firm? [...]

ANSWER: I think we never deposited any checks into my escrow account of the fund. Ukrainian Capital Growth Fund. According to him there is a separate account. [...]

QUESTION: Once again: does the name of Vladimir Malakhov mean anything to you? I think you already said?

ANSWER: No, nothing.

QUESTION: Mr. Cohen, you said that [...] you never sent money outside the US, to Russia or to other countries, right?

ANSWER: Right. As far as I know, this is true.

QUESTION: [...] Will it be true that you have never sent money from your accounts to Russia or Ukraine in any role?

ANSWER: What year are we talking about?

QUESTION: This is a time period around 1999; let's say between 1998 and 2000 for years for sure.

ANSWER: I would say no.

QUESTION: Good. Once again, to clarify: you testify that the money deposited into your trust account might have been intended for other types of enterprises or for one of the other enterprises in which you participated, right?

ANSWER: Yes, that's right. [...] This is true insofar as I do not remember about this transaction.

QUESTION: Good. I ask hypothetically, considering what you know or remember about your practice at the time: could it happen that the money that came to your trust account could be meant for one of the companies you told about?

ANSWER: Yes, it could happen.

QUESTION: Good. Do I understand correctly that you do not have documents regarding the remaining accounts [...]?

ANSWER: Yes, that's right.

QUESTION: Do you keep on your computer a list of clients for each year, for example, a kind of database?

ANSWER: Yes, I had such a list.

QUESTION: Do you have a customer list, say, from 1998 and 1999?

ANSWER: No.

QUESTION: [...] You do not know why this check was sent to you and where these funds eventually went from your trust account. Is this the correct statement?

ANSWER: Repeat, please.

QUESTION: This is a kind of generalizing question. You do not remember why this check on $ 350 thousand. was discharged to you in 1999, and how, in what form, and in what form did these funds leave your trust account?

ANSWER: Obviously, Vladimir Malakhov knew someone with whom I was connected, and the only person who came to mind - I already said the name of my partner, Simon Garber, who, by the way, is also a Russian. [...] Somewhere Along the way, they could ask me to take someone’s money for any purpose, be it one or the other, I don’t know the reasons, and I don’t even want to guess. [...] Perhaps - this is the only way I could get money, whether it be $ 35 or $350 тыс.- I received instructions of the same kind from the person who wrote the check to manage the funds, otherwise I would send it to the exhibitor. [...] This is how I managed the account.

QUESTION: Have you ever asked your partner Simon about this check before testifying?

ANSWER: No. [...] Simon Garber is not a lawyer. He is my partner in the taxi industry.

QUESTION: Are you still partners or are you no longer in the taxi industry?

ANSWER: I no longer work in the taxi industry.

QUESTION: Mr. Cohen, another short question. What was the name of the taxi company in which you worked in 1999?

ANSWER: Manhattan Maintenance, Inc.

QUESTION: [...] There was no connection between your trust account and the taxi company, were these accounts divided?

ANSWER: Absolutely.

At the end of the interrogation of Cohen, the court made the following conclusions:

“Michael Cohen, the recipient of the check, has repeatedly stated that he has no information or documentation regarding the $350 check written to him in a trust account in 1999. In addition, Mr. Cohen is completely unfamiliar with the other participants or witnesses in this case. Mr. Cohen repeated several times that he does not know defendant Malakhov and does not understand why he received an invoice for $350 thousand from defendant Malakhov.”

In other words, Cohen refused to report any details about the deal, arguing that he did not know why he was sent a check for $ 350 thousand, did not remember how he ordered this money, did not remember who they were intended for and what these $ 350 thousand happened, and did not know Vladimir Malakhov, who wrote the check, and never contacted him, although in a normal situation he would not have to accept a check for $ 350 thousand from a stranger ), but would have to return it to the sender (but for some reason did not return it).

$ 350 thousand, sent to Michael Cohen, were intended for one of the leaders of the Izmailovo criminal gang

We will help Mr. Cohen to remember what happened with the check for $ 350 thousand in the distant 1999 year, who was the owner of this money and what was their fate, taking advantage of the testimony of Cohen himself, at the end of the interrogation of the relaxed and informed:

«The only way I could get the funds was $ 35 or $350 тыс.- I received instructions of the same kind from the person who wrote the check to manage the funds«.

The inaccuracy made by Cohen was that the person who gave him “instructions” about the distribution of the money was not the same person who wrote the check, not Malakhov.

The $ 350 thousand, sent to Michael Cohen, were intended for one of the leaders of the Izmailovo criminal gang (OPG), Vitaly Yuryevich Buslaev, named Buslay (1965 year of birth). In the 1996 police certificate of the year, the following was written about him:

“There is one leader in the group - Oleg Ivanov, born 55, native of Kazan. But the Izmailov groups are led not so much by leaders, as in other groups, but by “authorities.” There are five of them - Viktor Nestruev (Boy), Sergey Trofimov (Trofim), Vitaly Buslaev (Buslay), Anton Malevsky (Anton), Alexander Derbyshev. The most famous is Anton Malevsky. This is partly due to the fact that he was detained several times by the police with weapons, but then he evaded responsibility. Some sources interpret this to mean that Anton has come under the “wing” of the special services and is working for them.”

Buslaev lived in Moscow. In the early 2000s, he was an employee of the private security company (PSC) Vityaz-AK, which was often a legal cover for criminal activities. At the same time, Buslaev was the general director of three companies: Bazagaza Limited Liability Company (LLC), Dormidont Realt LLC and Legend Project Group LLC. Legend Project Group, in turn, owned the companies Veliy Hotel Moscow LLC and Veliy Hotel Suzdal LLC. The Great Hotel Moscow is located 200 meters from the Trinity Tower of the Kremlin. The hotel windows look directly onto the Kremlin, and the territory on which the hotel is located is controlled by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.

The owners of Legend Project Group received a hotel in Moscow from a trusted person, the Rotenberg brothers, who are close to Putin. The partner of the Legend Project Group company was the owner of the Metropol Hotel, billionaire and member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation in 2011–2016, Mikhail Slipenchuk, who since 2015 has been a co-owner of the Veliy Hotel Moscow and the Veliy Hotel Suzdal.

The name Buslaev was also mentioned in connection with the murder in Ukraine of journalist Georgy Gongadze. But besides mentioning the name of Buslaev in a telephone conversation as the organizer of the murder, there was no other information about his involvement in the crime, and over time, new evidence did not appear.

In the current activities of Buslaev, a lot is connected with big business, with big Russian businessmen and with Putin’s partners, the Rotenberg brothers. But back in the year 1996, Buslaev was just beginning his upward movement. The money he planned to buy real estate in the USA, acquired by honest or dishonest work is difficult to judge, in those years in Russia all the money could be considered dishonest - really belonged to Buslayev. That year, in January, he flew to Miami with his 22-year-old girlfriend, Julia Fomina, and looked after the property, which he later bought in the building at 16711 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida for $ 473 900 in cash. Payments were made in 1996 in three tranches: February 18 - $ 96 000, April 18 - $ 48 000, November 29 - the remaining $ 329 900, of which $ 324 040,64 was transferred to the account of the owners of the Florida building by telex.

Actually, the apartment itself was not built yet. A multistory building was only being built, but it was already advertised in Moscow for sale. And many acquaintances of Buslaeva and St. Thomas bought in it not yet built apartments. In February, 1996, Buslaev and Fomin returned to Moscow. At the same time, according to Yulia, they got into a car accident. Fomina was seriously injured because she got out of the car after the accident and was hit by a passing car. She spent almost a month in the hospital. Buslaev was not injured. In March, Buslaev and Fomina flew to the United States again, for about five months, until September 1996. It seems that Buslaev was hiding from something, so he stayed in the USA for a long time.

At the apartment in Miami was parking for two cars. One was the Aston Martin, the second - as a rule, Mercedes

For the third time, somewhere in October 1996 of the year, Fomina arrived in the US alone. Buslaev remained in Russia. The completed apartment in Florida was bought by him at the end of November 1996, but Buslaev did not have to live in it - he was no longer given an entry visa to the United States due to suspicion of having links with Russian organized crime.

In America, Yulia did not work and lived on the money of Buslaev, who generously financed her. The money was uncountable. According to witnesses, and Yulia herself, she led a luxurious lifestyle. The apartment in Miami had parking for two cars. One was Aston Martin, the second was usually Mercedes. Yulia often flew to Russia and Europe, including visiting Buslaev (the last time they met, according to her recollections, was in 2004), and traveled around the United States. All her expenses, as Yulia testified under oath on March 22, 2006, were paid by “her friend” Alexander Varshavsky, an acquaintance of Buslaev, a businessman involved in the auto business, with whom Buslaev had a system of mutual settlements. Buslaev, according to Yulia, was also involved in the automobile business. The relationship between Yulia Fomina and Varshavsky was so close that he became the only person whose phone number was indicated at Fomina’s place of residence as a contact for emergency communication.

How exactly Buslaev sent money to Yulia, she didn’t know, according to her testimony, since all of her accounts and finances were controlled by the secretary of Warsaw Svetlana Gerus. All that Yulia Fomin had to do was to sign checks without asking any questions. And she, apparently, really did not ask them.

A few years later, the American prosecutor's office began to ask these questions, and this to Warsaw himself. Warsaw owned at least two automobile businesses in the United States (Avilon Group and New York Motors) and a dealer network for the sale of Mercedes and Ford in Moscow. In December 2013, the New Jersey State Court opened a criminal case against Warsaw for allegedly concealing income and tax evasion during the 2008 – 2012 period. Among the sums that aroused the suspicions of the American investigators was the transfer in the USA from Russia to the account of New York Motors $ 30 million 18 in March 2008 of the year; transfer from Russia to the Avilon Group account in 2009, $ 7,2 million for the purchase of a Bombardier jet airliner; transfer to the account of the same company in 2010 year $ 22 million after the sale of the aircraft. September 22 2010 of the year at the expense of Warsaw in the US from Moscow were transferred another $ 5 million.

In June, 2011, Warsawski, bought an apartment in the fashionable skyscraper at 20,5 Columbus Circle in New York for $ 25 million (for real estate operations, $ 24,3 million was transferred to his new company in New York, European Realty ). So through the familiar Buslaev and St. Thomas Alexander of Warsaw passed large sums of money.

But then, at the end of 1998, due to the August crisis and the instability of the ruble, which had fallen several times, Buslaev needed dollars, and at the very beginning of 1999 he decided to mortgage the property purchased in Yulia’s name and “take out” $350 thousand from the house. 4 On January 1999, Yulia Fomina signed papers to receive a loan of $455 from Malakhov and to transfer the Miami “condo” to the ownership of Lyudmila Malakhova (wife of Vladimir Malakhov) as collateral guaranteeing the repayment of the loan. On January 030, the documentation was forwarded by her lawyer to Malakhov's agent, Paul Theophanous.

When, in 2007, under oath, Cohen swore that he did not know Malakhov and did not transfer money to Russia, he most likely spoke the truth

Having paid $ 350 thousand to Buslaev to Cohen and additional cash to St. Thomas, Malakhov fulfilled all his obligations to Buslaev. In the pledge he had left the apartment Buslaeva, which could not go anywhere. But how did Buslaev receive money in Moscow transferred to Cohen in New York?

When Cohen swore under oath in 2007 that he did not know Malakhov and did not transfer money to Russia, he was most likely telling the truth, although here too Cohen left himself room to retreat: “as far as I remember.” Cohen's money laundering scheme was different. The money really did not leave the United States. Cohen received money into one of his accounts, confirmed its receipt, after which the owner of the money (in this case Buslaev) received $350 thousand in Russia from a completely different person who needed to “withdraw” $350 thousand from Russia. After Buslaev confirmed that money was received in Russia, Cohen released $350 thousand to American accounts indicated to him by the client who gave the money in Moscow.

As a result of this simple operation, Buslaev received absolutely pure $ 350 thousand in Moscow, most likely in cash; Cohen transferred the absolutely clean $ 350 thousand he received from hockey player Malakhov to some completely different American accounts where this money also became completely clean, as the American Tax Administration and the FBI could not cause any suspicions. For all this, Cohen probably received a percentage of the amount, since it is difficult to assume that he did all this for free.

Since Cohen refused to provide the court with any of his notes, bills and papers, one can only guess what percentage he earned on money laundering - because what Cohen's lawyer was doing was a classic money laundering.

How wide was the clientele of Michael Cohen, hard to say. Among his acquaintances from ancient times there were many immigrants from Russia. In and of itself, this is neither good nor bad. But a person who eventually became the personal lawyer of the American president, this puts him in a special position when he is obliged to answer very many questions that are quite natural from the public and law enforcement agencies of the United States.

Michael Cohen married the citizen of Ukraine Lore Shusterman. Laura's father, Fima Shusterman, born 1945, has real estate and investments in the USA. Michael himself once tried to establish a business in Ukraine related to ethanol (alcohol), but then, it seems, he transferred this business to his brother Brian. Brian was also married to Oksana Oronova, a citizen of Ukraine. Among Brian's businesses is the production of ethanol in Ukraine.

On March 2, 2017, Oksana Oronova’s father, 69-year-old Alexander Oronov, who was involved in organizing a meeting between Ukrainian MP Artemenko and Michael Cohen in connection with Artemenko’s “peace plan” transferred to President Trump’s then-national security adviser, General Michael Flynn, was found dead in New York. York.

Finale

Buslaev and Fomina did not repay the debt taken out in 1999 to Malakhov, and the Malakhov family had to sell the real estate accepted as collateral (“the condo” was sold for $415) in order to return the money. In 000, Yulia Fomina tried to sue the Malakhovs for the apartment Buslaev bought for her back, but after spending several years in court (the process lasted until 2006) and about $2011 thousand, she lost the case. The legal costs were paid by her new acquaintance Oleg Lazanovich, an emigrant from Kyiv, owner of the MBT Wine & Spirit company (alcoholic beverage business), who lived in Miami in the same building, at 100 Collins Avenue.

In March 2006, Vladimir Malakhov bought himself a new “condo” in Miami in Trump Place, at 18101 Collins Ave. Today this apartment is valued at $1,5 million.

3 March 2010 of the year Malakhov sued the American lawyer Michael Cohen, accusing him of sending a check for $ 19 thousand sent to 1999 on January 350 of the year and was not sent to anyone but Cohen. Malakhov demanded a refund of $ 350 thousand with interest and payment of attorney and court costs related to the claim.

12 of April of the same year, Malakhov, without any explanation, unexpectedly withdrew his lawsuit, putting an end to the investigation of the intriguing and detective story about $ 350 thousand, received by Trump's personal lawyer suspected of illegal ties with Russia.

Malakhov's letter to the district court, with which he withdraws his lawsuit to Cohen. Photo: Yuri Felshtinsky

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