NYT: FBI tried to recruit Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska

For several years, US intelligence agencies tried to recruit Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, reports The New York Times with reference to several sources.

According to journalists, between the years of 2014 and 2016, the FBI and the Department of Justice tried to communicate with a Russian billionaire. They wanted information on Russian organized crime in the United States and on Russia's interference in the US presidential election in 2016.

The New York Times reports that the security services wanted to find out whether the former head of Donald Trump’s headquarters, Paul Manafort, really had direct connections with the Kremlin. In return, the United States offered Deripaska assistance in obtaining visas and solving legal problems, but he refused to cooperate.

The attempt to recruit Deripaska was an element of a larger campaign to assess the possibility of encouraging the cooperation of a number of the richest Russians, the newspaper notes. The campaign was attended by a representative of the US Department of Justice Bruce Ohr and the compiler of the compromising dossier on US President Donald Trump, ex-employee of the British special services MI6 Christopher Steele.

"The systematic efforts to induce the oligarchs to cooperate, which were not previously reported, apparently did not bring any results," the article says.

According to the information familiar with the situation of the interlocutor of the publication, Deripaska told the American side about his disagreement with their theories regarding Russian organized crime and the Kremlin’s collusion with representatives of Trump's campaign headquarters. In addition, the businessman told the Kremlin about attempts to recruit him.

All NYT sources spoke anonymously, expressing concern that by disclosing information about the pressure on Deripaska, they undermine American national security, and give Putin additional trumps. But they also noted that they do not want US President Donald Trump and his allies to use the FBI secret program as a screen with which they could select the information they need and substitute them and prevent the investigation of a special lawyer.

To simplify the process of meetings, the FBI asked the State Department to allow Deripaska to fly to New York on a Russian diplomatic passport as part of the Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly. Prior to this, the State Department rejected several requests for a visa to Deripaska (even as part of a diplomatic delegation), but in 2015 and 2016 the businessman’s requests for a diplomatic visa were satisfied.

Despite the fact that the recruitment efforts Deripaska ended in failure, writes The Bell, interest in a businessman in the United States continued to grow against the background of the investigation into the “interference” of Russia in the American elections. So, among the documents related to the Trump dossier that the State Department handed over to Congress, there was a handwritten note from Ora - it said that Deripaska “almost agreed” to talk with the American authorities about the money that “Manafort stole”.

It is about last year’s failed testimony of a billionaire in the US Congress. According to the NYT, Or asked a person close to the Russian (the newspaper does not name his name) to persuade the businessman to "surrender Manafort." What happened next is the subject of controversy. In Congress, they argue that Deripaska agreed to testify only in exchange for immunity from prosecution - this was unprofitable for the United States. However, the lawyer who was working with Deripaska at the time told the NYT that the businessman was ready to testify without immunity, but refused to talk about the relationship between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign, because “he doesn’t know anything about it and doesn’t believe it happened.” “I told them [in Congress] that he wants to talk about Manafort. We told them separately that we did not want immunity. Obviously, they did not want Deripaska to speak, ”the lawyer believes.

Deripaska's representatives have not yet commented on the publication.

In early April, Deripaska and related companies came under US sanctions because of a businessman’s relationship with the Kremlin. Sanctions mean that companies in the United States are forbidden to work directly with companies from the list, it is forbidden to own their shares, banks are forbidden to give them loans and make payments, and the assets of the oligarch in the United States can be arrested.

After the announcement of sanctions against the companies, Derepaska’s main asset, RusAl, was on the verge of technical default. Rusal has already announced a voluntary delisting (cessation of trading in shares) from the Euronext exchange in Paris and that it will trade them only on platforms in Hong Kong and Moscow. But on the Hong Kong stock exchange alone, Rusal shares fell by 49,14% after the announcement of the sanctions. On the Moscow stock exchange, Rusal shares also fell by 46,9% in early trading. The final decline at auction in Moscow so far is 30%.

At the same time, the US Treasury promised to consider lifting sanctions if Deripaska’s share in the companies is less than 50 percent. In May, Deripaska announced his resignation from the board of directors of RusAl.

Recall Deripaska is 23 line of the Russian list Forbes. His fortune magazine is estimated at 5,1 billion dollars. The main assets of Deripaska are concentrated in the metallurgical, agro-industrial and automotive industries, as well as in the electric power industry.

In 2017 year ForumDaily wrote that Deripaska for 15 million dollars bought luxurious mansion Haft in Washington, near Embassy row. House area 2137 square. with seven bedrooms, a floor of Italian marble and a chandelier that once hung in the Paris Opera, was sold to the widow of a magnate in the discounter area of ​​Herbert Haft.

According to ForbesIn 2006, in the interests of the oligarch, a residential property complex was acquired for $ 5,4 million Greenwich Village in Manhattan (New York). Another building in the Upper East Side (New York) was acquired in 2008 for $ 42,5 million.

And in 2014, Deripaska, as the newspaper writes, bought a stake in 50% in the newspaper Novy Svet, the largest Russian-language publication in the United States.

Read also on ForumDaily:

How did US sanctions affect Russian oligarchs

Offshore and Money Laundering: Manafort's subordinate testified against him

Saving "Rusal": Why Deripaska is backing up for the company in the EU

How new US sanctions hit the Russian oligarchs

The richest Russians lost $ 16 billion from US sanctions

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