Trump Administration, Cyprus & Putin Billionaires

    Trump's fantastic real estate deal in 2006 with Russian billionaire  Dmitry Rybolovlev:

    “Maison de l’Amitie,” or the House of Friendship. It was the trophy of a Boston-area magnate, until he lost his fortune in 2004. That’s when Donald Trump scooped it up. After paying $41 million for the place in November 2004, Trump called it “the finest piece of land in Florida, and probably the U.S.” ......Trump had no intention of living there. He intended to flip it for a quick—and huge—profit. His initial asking price, less than two years after buying it, was $125 million. By the time Trump listed the property, in early 2006, the real estate market was already cooling off.... In the summer of 2008, Trump found a solution to his problem in the form of one of the world’s hundred richest men: a 41-year-old Russian billionaire named Dmitry Rybolovlev....

    Dmitry Rybolovlev, 'hostage to Putin',  struck it rich with Uralkali, Russian potash corporation. Bloomberg News:

    Even though Russian billionaires are part of the international jet set, with homes throughout the world and yachts and planes that can take them anywhere at any moment, they are invested in Russia's fate. Does that mean that they would do anything to change Russia's political course, which has driven down the value of their domestic holdings? I don't think so. These men are hostages to President Vladimir Putin's regime, which demonstrates that fact on a regular basis....

    Trump and Dmitry Rybolovlev frequently wind up in the same places at the same time.

    Two Trump Companies discovered in Cyprus in 2016.

    Trump's Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross owns 18% of the Bank of Cyprus, he is the largest shareholder.

    The second largest shareholder in Bank of Cyprus is a Russian conglomerate called Renova Corp., which is founded and headed by Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian billionaire and associate of Putin.

    The third largest owner of the Bank of Cyprus is Russian billionaire Dmitry Ryboloviev. Yes, the same Russian billionaire who bought the Florida property from Trump in 2006.

    The Bank of Cyprus is known as a money laundering site for Russian and EU money.

    Other Russian connections, and lies about those connections, of the Trump administration.

    Trump's Attorney General Sessions lied in his Senate hearings about his 2016 contacts with the Russian Ambassador to the US, Washington Post - Sessions met with Russian envoy twice last year, encounters he later did not disclose:

    One of the meetings was a private conversation between Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak that took place in September in the senator’s office, at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race.

    Prior to taking office, Trump's National Security advisor had discussions about Russian sanctions with the Russian Ambassador Kislyak assuring him that relations would improve with Mr. Trump. the conversations were wiretapped and recorded by US Intelligence. Flynn lied to the FBI about these conversations and was let go only after his lies were leaked and exposed in the media. NYT:

    On Jan. 2, administration officials learned that Mr. Kislyak — after leaving the State Department meeting — called Mr. Flynn, and that the two talked multiple times in the 36 hours that followed. American intelligence agencies routinely wiretap the phones of Russian diplomats, and transcripts of the calls showed that Mr. Flynn urged the Russians not to respond, saying relations would improve once Mr. Trump was in office, according to multiple current and former officials.

    Of course, those Trump administration financial connections with Russian billionaires in shady banks, lies about Russian contacts, lack of tax returns for Mr.Trump, are all probably not suspicious, or as serious as a private email server...right? Or do we need a special prosecutor to sort this out?  As even Republican Darrell Issa has called for, 4 days ago (but has since retracted...a new account in Cyprus perhaps?)

    Comments

    Nice work NCD, important to parse this out as you've done here. Thanks.

     


    I ditto Bruce.

    I recall when I first heard Trump talking about Putin.

    I thought: What the hell is this all about?

     


    NCD ... Great work... Thank you...

    Here's something I put up over the Hive at TPM past Tuesday.

    James S. Henry | DCReport.org | February 25, 2017

    Wilbur Ross Comes to D.C. With an Unexamined History of Russian Connections

    Tremendously indepth with annotated citations and all.

    David Cay Johnston and his crew of sleuths don't give up on chasing mirages, ghosts and shadows.

    https://www.dcreport.org/about/

    ~OGD~


    It's globalization of the billionaires! A dream team of the ultra-rich. Good link.

    The global billionaire dream team like the 'financial freedom' of controlling crooked banks under a crooked government.

    It says the Bank of Cyprus in recent years had bad loans equaling 60% of the GDP of Cyprus.

    And about 1/3 of the bad loans were to Cyprus politicians.

    In other words, 20% of the GDP of Cyprus was loaned to politicians, who couldn't repay.

    That is the GOP 'dream' outcome for Wall Street deregulation, they cash in, when the scheme collapses, taxpayers guarantee the banks.

    Brings to mind the 1980's S & L crash under Republicans, the 2008 crash under Republicans, and the next one, which could be much worse.


    I should have done this before.

    I hereby render unto NCD the Dayly Blog of the Day for this here Dagblog Site, given to all of NCD from all of me.

    This is goooooooooood work.

    This Russian conspiracy has reached new heights.

    Again, from memory, when Trump called upon the ruskies to 'find'

    Hillary's e-mails; I began to suspect a conspiracy.

    AND WHERE THE FUCK ARE TRUMP'S TAX RETURNS?

    Oh, and I am so happy to see you on the front page!


    If Trump releases his tax returns, he takes a lot of the Suspicion about inappropriate contact with the Russians off the table if nothing is found.

     


    Remember back in the real old days when it seemed that every terrorist attack involved a Cypriot bomb thrower? A great location for any spy novel or film. Lots of bad Russian money was in Cyprus before the government took hold of people's accounts. Crete seems to be an under-utilized location. What's happening on Crete?

    Why don't hackers ever do anything useful, like hack into Trump tax returns, or hack into MOUs between Trump and Ivan. Remember Ivan?


    just so's you're aware, in the case it is more than a case of "you win some, you lose some", we in the art market we've been following Mr. Ryobolovlev for quite some time.

    He's been tallying up some major losses on some major money laundering in the last week, more today. surprise


    All comes out in the wash... someone has a plan.


    someone should be watching the health of that Swiss art dealer that sold the stuff to him, tho. unless, of course, losing $150M was part of the plan....


    Perhaps "washed out to see", or a fast descent down the Matterhorn. Swiss time is running out.


    just caught my eye on Bloomberg; related ?

    Russian Hackers Said to Seek Hush Money From Liberal Groups

    by Michael Riley, March 6, 2017, 5:00 AM EST March 6, 2017, 11:07 AM EST

    • Post-election crime wave by attackers demanding bitcoins
    • Center for American Progress said to be among victims

    Russian hackers are targeting U.S. progressive groups in a new wave of attacks, scouring the organizations’ emails for embarrassing details and attempting to extract hush money, according to two people familiar with probes being conducted by the FBI and private security firms.

    At least a dozen groups have faced extortion attempts since the U.S. presidential election, said the people, who provided broad outlines of the campaign. The ransom demands are accompanied by samples of sensitive data in the hackers’ possession [....]


    CIA providing raw intelligence as Trump-Russia probes heat up

    Congress has entered a new phase in its investigation.

    By and @ Politico.com, Updated 03/07/17 07:17 PM EST

    Lawmakers are trekking to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., to review classified evidence on Russia’s involvement in the presidential election. The House has scheduled its first public hearing on the issue. And the Senate is preparing to interview witnesses.

    The congressional investigations into ties between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russian officials are in full swing [.....]

    The CIA is now providing raw intelligence documents to committee members, according to multiple senators. [.....]


    I'll raise you Cyprus, and go for Turkey.

    Money from the Turkish government to pay Flynn for his lobbying before and after the election was laundered through Dutch co. Inovo BV, really a front for the Erdogan gummint:

    By David L. Phillips @ The World Post
     
    [....] Inovo BV is thinly capitalized and operates in deficit on an ongoing basis. Did Flynn vet Inovo BV before signing his deal? Was he willfully ignorant about where the money was coming from?

    Inovo BV is a front organization for Inovo Turkije, which profits from contracts with the Turkish government. Ekim Alptek, a close associate of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, founded both Inovo BV and Inovo Turkije [....]


    P.S. Comes to mind we're getting a new high class money laundering related service facility in Harlem (that's New York City's, with one "a"):

    https://news.artnet.com/art-world/will-new-york-get-its-own-freeport-for-art-arcis-plans-a-tax-haven-in-harlem-878165

    They're springing up like weeds in the spring, a growth industry: jobs?! cheeky


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