FBI agents swarmed a Washington D.C. residence and New York City home linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska on Monday.
Deripaska spokesperson Larisa Belyaeva said that the FBI was conducting searches at two homes belonging to Deripaska’s relatives based on court orders linked to American sanctions.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Deripaska in April 2018 for “attempting to subvert Western democracies.” The sanctions prevent him from directly holding property in the United States.
A spokesperson for the FBI D.C. field office confirmed to TPM Tuesday that “court-authorized law enforcement activity” was taking place at an address linked to Deripaska. The bureau declined to comment further. Deripaska is also connected to a property on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; an SDNY spokesman declined to comment on whether law enforcement was targeting that location as well.
An NBC reporter at the scene first reported the activity.
Deripaska also owns a property on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; an SDNY spokesman declined to comment on whether law enforcement was targeting that location as well.
Deripaska played a starring role in allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 election.
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort owed a debt of millions to Deripaska, which the Russian oligarch attempted to recoup during the campaign.
At one point during the 2016 presidential race, Manafort offered to brief Deripaska on Trump campaign polling and the inner workings of the campaign.
The longtime GOP political consultant had worked with Deripaska for years before the 2016 election, notably getting involved in an investment deal in the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa.
That deal led to litigation in which Deripaska attempted to recoup $25 million from Manafort.
Deripaska has also been involved in a series of business deals that involve U.S. metallurgical assets, a core component of the oligarchs’ business empire.
Deripaska sued to have the sanctions removed, but that lawsuit was dismissed in June 2021.
