DOJ: indicts Russian Oligarch, Konstantin Malofeyev Violating U.S. Sanctions -UPATED $5M Reward for Fugitive Semion Mogilevich
“Defendant Hired American Citizen Jack Hanick to Work for His Television Network in Russia and Illegally Transferred $10 Million U.S. Investment”
See update at the bottom on this article and it’s worth it -trust me on that -or not
Greetings from the Ocean…
It’s been a hot minute and with another coastal storm brewing (the NWS issued a tornado warning overnight) — I hope this article finds you and yours doing well. At the moment I now have a few minutes of free time —as its currently raining “cats and dogs” -not to be confused by my actual cat/dog. Did I miss anything or breaking news? …and for the record I’m being entirely sarcastic, because I actually did unplug for about 72 hours.
So before we dig into the DOJ’s announcement —here is your prerequisite daily salt water therapy…(again my Instagram Account) will serve as my “proof of life” for a few weeks. Also I’m not at all kidding: after a gnarly costal storm (I think it’s the same storm that dumped a bunch of hail in Miami/Dade a few days ago) but I’m not a meteorologist so there’s that fun-fact-nugget) —in my 11+ years of intermittent beach life, I always find that the sunset the morning after a huge coastal storm is just exquisitely beautiful… thus waking up at 5:45AM does I’m fact have its rewards and luckily for you I like to share👇🏻
IMPORTANT: Unless otherwise specifically stated the embedded links are directly from the Department of Justice…because I understand how pervasive disinformation and misinformation is and that knowing the “provenance” of documents tends to alleviate skepticism…at least that’s what I keep telling myself…
DOJ’s KleptoCapture -produces significant actions:
I suppose one could say “watch this space” because I’m pretty sure this is just the very beginning of the DOJ’s KleptoCapture and I’m super excited to see all of the recent DOJ announcements
Notwithstanding if you had paid attention to the March 2, 2022 OPA, when the DOJ unsealed the indictment of Jack Hanick (shocker he was formerly with Fox News and CNBC) —in early March of 2022 the DOJ working with the UK arrested HANICK. No word on what stage HANICK’s current extradition status -maybe he should be put in the same cell as Julian Assange —Hope Springs Eternal, right? I’m not being literal about HANICK and Assange…
I’m not kidding if you had read the March 3, 2022 (partially redacted) Indictment - specifically see paragraph 31 which reads in part:
…JOHN HANICK, a/k/a "Jack Banick," the defendant… did knowingly and willfully make materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations… and that HANICK did not know that Malofeyev had any connection to the Bulgarian TV Network until reading about it afterward in the press coverage…the HANICK well knew, Malofeyev was among the individuals involved in attempting to acquire the Bulgarian TV Network, and was among the individuals with whom HANICK conferred and from whom HANICK received instructions regarding that attempted purchase for the purpose of expanding Malofeyev's media network.
April 6, 2022 Konstantin Malofeyev indictment unsealed
If you’ve follow me (either on Twitter or Substack) then you already know when it comes to Court documents, I tend to focus on tiny details and then I explain why aforesaid tiny details are important (sheesh it’s almost like I might actually know what to focus on -snort) again I would recommend that you (re) read the HANICK March 3, 2022 indictment because that will help you contextualize today’s Malofeyev’s part of this conspiracy —as further explained in pretty amazing detail the OSAO-SDNY:
charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions and violations of U.S. sanctions in connection with his hiring of an American citizen, Jack Hanick, to work for him in operating television networks in Russia and Greece and attempting to acquire a television network in Bulgaria.
Malofeyev also conspired with Hanick and others to illegally transfer a $10 million investment that Malofeyev made in a U.S. bank to a business associate in Greece, in violation of the sanctions blocking Malofeyev’s assets from being transferred.
Malofeyev remains at large and is believed to be in Russia.
Oh and there’s a delightful buried lede in today’s DOJ-OPA $10M seizure
…United States issued a seizure warrant for Malofeyev’s U.S. investment. Malofeyev remains at large and is believed to be in Russia…
Another important fact: on December 19, 2014, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Konstantin Malofeyev - was ppecially Designated National (SDN) pursuant to Executive Order 13660. OFAC’s designation of:
Malofeyev …was one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea, and has materially assisted, sponsored, and provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a separatist organization in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk.
For your edification (because I can and so I did) I have taken the liberty of running a US Treasury search for MALOFEEV, Konstantin Valerievich; a.k.a. MALOFEYEV ←that search will take you here👇🏻
As detailed in Malofeyev’s newly unsealed indictment —in 2013 he hired Jack Hanick to take lead on a new Russian cable television news network (the Russian TV Network) that Malofeyev was creating.
Malofeyev negotiated directly with Hanick regarding Hanick’s salary, payment for Hanick’s housing in Moscow, and Hanick’s Russian work visa, and Malofeyev paid Hanick through two separate Russian entities through the end of 2018.
As further alleged in Malofeyev’s indictment —he used HANICK to transfer his “real property” to an associate in Greece
Malofeyev also employed Hanick to assist Malofeyev in transferring a $10 million investment in a Texas-based bank holding company (the Texas Bank) to the Greek Business Associate in violation of the Ukraine-Related Sanctions Regulations. In 2014, Malofeyev used a shell company to make the investment, and beginning in or about March 2015, Malofeyev began making plans to transfer ownership of the shell company to the Greek Business Associate as a means to transfer the investment in the Texas Bank.
Oh look I see the Seychelles and shell companies rear their corrupt ugly head, once again…
Oh look let’s play hide the owner… shell game
ProTip: things you never want to see in an indictment: your name, specific dates, specific dollar amounts but most importantly “in an email” ←because that means the FBI has you, dead on rights. And I don’t know about you but it’s thrilling to read the aforesaid in an Indictment. Especially the quotes from emails.
Also I wonder how soon that Texas based attorney will be indictment or if that attorney has already hammered out a plea agreement… looks around and begins to search the Texas State Bar for any recent disciplinary actions against [redacted] -I am sitting at about an 95% probably that I know the name and firm of said attorney but I respect the FBI and DOJ efforts -so I’m not going to publicly name because I’m not a fame hungry dolt. (snort)
May 2015, Malofeyev’s attorney drafted a Sale and Purchase Agreement that purported to transfer the shell company to the Greek Business Associate in exchange for one U.S. dollar. In June 2015 Malofeyev had Hanick physically transport a copy of Malofeyev’s certificate of shares in the Texas Bank from Moscow to Athens to be given to the Greek Business Associate.
Malofeyev signed the Sale and Purchase Agreement in June 2015, but the agreement was fraudulently backdated to July 2014 to make it appear that the transfer had taken place prior to the imposition of U.S. sanctions. Malofeyev’s attorney then falsely represented to the Texas Bank that the transfer had taken place in July 2014, even though Malofeyev and his attorney well knew that the transfer of the shell company was executed in June 2015.
DOJ DAG Lisa Monaco in a statement…
…which reads in part:
“We have our eyes on every dollar and jet. We have our eyes on every piece of art and real estate, purchased with dirty money and on every bitcoin wallet filled with proceeds of theft, and other crimes,” —“Together with our partners around the world, our goal is to ensure that sanctioned Russian oligarchs and cyber criminals will not find safe haven.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland…
As noted in the 22 page affidavit which elucidated the acquisition and ultimate ownership belonging to Viktor Vekselberg (side note it’s a little nuts that it took Putin’s murderous and barbaric rampage in Ukraine for the DOJ it go all in on the various Russian Oligarchs. Nonetheless it certainly appears Operation KleptoCapture has taken the gloves off and I am here for it —all of it
….The seizure was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2 and run out of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will leverage all the Department’s tools and authorities against efforts to evade or undermine the economic actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.
Viktor Vekselberg’s yacht, Tango (down) Seized in Spain..
DOJ-FBI announcement Hydra Market -Botnet tango down -by order of a Court
DOJ also announced its disruption of a plot by the GRU, the Russian government’s military intelligence agency, to hack a network security company’s devices, going after a “botnet” designed to overtake them. Read more here
This particular marketplace, according to the Justice Department;
…has brought in an estimated $5.2 billion in cryptocurrency since 2015…
So to say today’s announcement is a very big deal, well it is —because based on preliminary research this was one of the biggest (dark) marketplaces…
WDPA Search Warrant Package ←you should really and I mean really read that warrant because some of you might recall my ongoing fascination with the various WDPA Indictments. Fun Fact back in 2014 then Attorney General Holder made a significant announcement:
2014 - U.S. Charges Five Chinese Military Hackers for Cyber Espionage Against U.S. Corporations and a Labor Organization for Commercial Advantage First Time Criminal Charges Are Filed Against Known State Actors for Hacking Yes I’m aware those were Chinese (and not Russian hackers -cough — I mean you do know that “chopstick” was xTunnel & XAgent, right?
U.S. Leads Multi-National Action Against “Gameover Zeus” Botnet And “Cryptolocker” Ransomware, Charges Botnet Administrator
2015 - Major Computer Hacking Forum Dismantled. As Part of Coordinated Law Enforcement Efforts in 20 Countries, United States Charges 12 Defendants in Connection with Computer Fraud Conspiracy
2015 - Bugat Botnet Administrator Arrested and Malware Disabled
October 2020 - USAO-WDPA announced: SIX RUSSIAN GRU OFFICERS CHARGED IN CONNECTION WITH WORLDWIDE DEPLOYMENT OF DESTRUCTIVE MALWARE AND OTHER DISRUPTIVE ACTIONS IN CYBERSPACE
FBI Director Wray ‘Cyclops Blink' botnet tango down..
“We’re announcing a sophisticated court authorized operation disrupting a botnet of thousands of devices controlled by the Russian government before it could do any harm…We removed malware from devices used by thousands of mostly small businesses for network security all over the world and then we shut the door the Russians had used to get into them.”
And because I genuinely respect our Attorney General, Merrick Garland -I’ll let him have the last word:
Our message to those who continue to enable the Russian regime through their criminal conduct is this: It does not matter how far you sail your yacht. It does not matter how well you conceal your assets. It does not matter how cleverly you write your malware or hide your online activity. The Justice Department will use every available tool to find you, disrupt your plots and hold you accountable
Dear Russia, our DOJ & our Allies are coming for you and your ill-gotten largesse…
You’ve murdered thousands of Ukrainians, committed countless war crimes and it has only hardened the Ukrainians resolve and America’s commitment to NATO and providing Ukraine with more lethal weaponry. Putin — your days are numbered and you’ve brought permanent shame to all Russians. That will be your legacy. Period. Full Stop.
“I want every mother of every russian soldier to see the bodies of the killed people in bucha,’
And I’ll keep repeating this —If I were you I’d keep an eye on WDPA, Texas, Alaska, Central District of California. To that end you can read more about why I’ll keep saying to keep an eye on those special USAOs;
June 16, 2021 - Emotet Botnet Disrupted in International Cyber Operation, here
June 30, 2021 - Dear Columbia we are going to need you to extradite Mihai Ionut Paunescu -thanks America - updated with 1999 & 2010 MLAT. here
November 2021 - FIN7 aka Carbanak Group fourth defendant expected to plead guilty on November 22, 2021, here
November 8, 2021 - Yaroslav Vasinskyi here
At any rate the Costal Storm 2.0 appears to have finally moved on and now I need to take the kiddos for their Kite Surfing lessons. I promised them if their instructor texted me and said the weather on the Sound is perfect that I would drop everything and take them to their lesson… the current air temp is 72℉ and the Sound Temp is 69.8℉ with Ocean temps hovering around 69℉ -so wetsuits it is…
Again my extracurricular Substack Activities will likely be hit or miss for the next few weeks … meaning if it’s raining and there are no more massive puzzles to put together (each year I order a dozen puzzles to be delivered to the beach house) then I’ll likely publish an article…
Until then -Be Well
-Filey
Another round of crippling sanctions “Russia is a global financial pariah…”
PS —as previously expected (especially in light of the atrocities and countless war crimes that occurred in Bucha) on April 6, 2022 the Biden White House (in coordination and cooperation of our European Allies) unveiled the newest rounds of Sanctions. Read the Fact Sheet here (also see March 11, 2022 Fact Sheet)
The April 6, 2022 additional sanctions now includes
Full blocking sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank, and Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa Bank
This action will freeze any of Sberbank’s and Alfa Bank’s assets touching the U.S financial system and prohibit U.S. persons from doing business with them. Sberbank holds nearly one-third of the overall Russian banking sector’s assets and is systemically critical to the Russian economy. Alfa Bank is Russia’s largest privately-owned financial institution and Russia’s fourth largest financial institution overall.
Prohibiting any new investments in Russia by any person in the United States.
..a new Executive Order (E.O.) that includes a prohibition on new investment in Russia by U.S. persons wherever located, which will further isolate Russia from the global economy
Full blocking sanctions on critical major Russian state-owned enterprises
…prohibit any U.S. person from transacting with these entities and freeze any of their assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction, thereby damaging the Kremlin’s ability to use these entities it depends on to enable and fund its war in Ukraine. The Department of Treasury will announce these entities tomorrow.
Additional Oligarchs added and this now includes Putin’s two daughters (I’d like to know why Switzerland and France have yet to expel Putin’s daughters)
…sanctions on: President Putin’s adult children, Foreign Minister Lavrov’s wife and daughter, and members of Russia’s Security Council including former President and Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin
And lastly but most importantly —the Biden Administration has ordered the U.S. Treasury to prohibit Russia from making debt payments with funds subject to U.S. jurisdiction…
Sanctions do not preclude payments on Russian sovereign debt at this time, provided Russia uses funds outside of U.S. jurisdiction. However, Russia is a global financial pariah — and it will now need to choose between draining its available funds to make debt payments or default.
So to those who have criticized the Biden Administration use of sanctions. You do understand that you’ve beclowned yourselves (once again) —
to those who gasped and clutched their pearls when President Biden called Putin “a war criminal” —again you have beclowned yourselves…
…what happened in Bucha is (sadly) just the very beginning of what the West will see. And the fact that Russia’s deployment included several mobile crematoriums (read more here) I think many of us originally thought Putin would use the mobile crematoriums to cover up the many and I mean many Russians “soldiers” deaths —but it now appears Russia used them to cover up their War Crimes.
Because if you are still a Putin apologist—then that means you’re okay with the murder of hundreds of children, the murder of thousands of innocent civilians, the raping of countless Ukrainian women and young girls —but most offensively you’re fine with actual genocide —and no I don’t need to name names, these people know exactly who I’m talking about —asshole just because you have tweets behind a paywall doesn’t mean I can’t see them. You freckles a-moral coward —if you love Putin that much then renounce your American citizenship and GTFO of our Country
—drops mic in pure disgust and actual rage
Updated April 6, 2022 at 6:15PM -DC local time
FBI, State Dept Announce $5 Million Reward for Fugitive Semion Mogilevich…
There are a few things that have a permanent place or it’s own individual murder board and one of those “things” is: Semion Mogilevich
Also see United States v. MOGILEVICH (2:02-cr-00157 - see 2002 EDPA-ECF or you can pull down the 2002 Indictment from my Scribd Account-which was unsealed back in 2008) And I think it’s important to remind you exactly what the Government’s Superseding Indictment regarding MOGILEVICH
As noted in the Superseding Indictment - Defendant MOGILEVICH created a rather complex web of Companies - for example I now refer you to pages 3 and 4 of the superseder
But generally speaking the good stuff starts on page 4 -specifically paragraph 6 et seq…
Moreover and as noted in the April 6, 2022 State Department’s Press Release —which reads in part:
Department of State is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Semion Mogilevich, a longtime transnational criminal currently living in Russia. Mogilevich is wanted in the United States for his alleged participation between 1993 and 1998 in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud thousands of investors related to a public company headquartered in Newtown, Pennsylvania. The scheme collapsed in 1998 after thousands of investors lost more than $150 million. Mogilevich was indicted in 2002 and again in 2003.
In the FBI Press Release (which was published in concert with the State Department) —which is why I thought my readers would benefit from the refresher of the superseding indictment (via Scribd) -which reads in part:
…Mogilevich was federally indicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2002 and 2003. The charges against him include racketeering, securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering…
Semion Mogilevich is described as a white male, 5’6” to 5’7”, 290 pounds, balding, with gray hair and green eyes. He was born on June 30, 1946, in Kyiv, Ukraine, but also uses July 5, 1946, as an alias date of birth. Mogilevich has Russian, Ukrainian, and Israeli passports. His current residence is believed to be in Moscow, Russia.
I personally love seeing Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section (OCGS) of the Department’s Criminal Division —in a press release - don’t you?
Lastly see FBI file
https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cei/semion-mogilevich
Incidentally I would like to draw your attention to a civil case -styled as:
Wildman et v. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft -Case No - 1:21-cv-04400
See EDNY ECF or via my Scribd Account
For the 606 page August 2021 Civil Compliant —You might be wondering why I’m referring you to that civil case - I now refer you to pages 97 and 98 - here the plaintiffs alleged that MOGILEVICH had/has deep toes to the Taliban and al-Qaeda… again that’s a civil matter and the plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint in February of 2022 (see EDNY-ECF
But it’s Exhibit A (see EDNY-ECF or that I found incredibly interesting)
And with that I believe most of you are adequately informed or at the very least better informed having read this article. Hope Springs “imma gonna drop a few receipts” at least that’s what I strive to do in each of my publications…
I love you girl.
Sunrises are the best! Especially on the water. i row the sun up. You're welcome ;)