Article

2022-10-27 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

US Lawmakers Backtrack, Withdraw Letter Urging Biden To Pursue Peace In Russia-Ukraine War

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Posted by Fred 2022-10-27 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 Former security officer in Vietnam war posted today, "The military industrial complex made about 250 billion off Ukraine. That's a profit of about $1250.00 per person slaughtered. Not a 20 yr Afghanistan but respectful." Currently living in Vietnam and married to a Vietnamese woman and very happy. Locals question him as to why Americans voted for Biden. They actually like Americans and despise Chinese. Politicians as here go the way the wind blows.

Posted by Dale 2022-10-27 04:05|| 2022-10-27 04:05|| Front Page Top

#2 /\ Klingon and Foggy Bottom business developers fully engaged and doing their jobs since circa 1950.

Posted by Besoeker 2022-10-27 06:02|| 2022-10-27 06:02|| Front Page Top

#3 and how would a VN War vet living in VN have that information, Dale?

Posted by Frank G 2022-10-27 07:04|| 2022-10-27 07:04|| Front Page Top

#4 Prob reads The Daily Mail

Posted by Skidmark 2022-10-27 07:27|| 2022-10-27 07:27|| Front Page Top

#5 $250 billion over the last 9-10 years is about right.

Do the math. We’re already up to $66 billion for 2022 alone, and Team Brandon Lame-~~dick~~ Duck are promising another $50 billion before the new GOP majority can get seated.

Nuland’s State Department threw away $5 billion in just their 2014 coup operation.

So that leaves about $20 billion a year for hardware, Klingons, congressional junkets, various and sundry operations, and of course the Great Ukraine Grift that pays millions each year to Crackpipe, Sally Painter, and the hundreds if DC “consultants” slurping at the Ukraine trough.

Yeah, $250 billion is about right. One hell of a scam. New world record for the MIC.

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 09:02|| 2022-10-27 09:02|| Front Page Top

#6 Don’t forget the billions this country has coughed up to Ukrainian thieves like the bandit “oligarchs” propping up the little man in Kiev.

Take Igor Kolomoisky (please). This is the Ukrainian puppet master behind the T-shirted one. Kolomoisky has looted over a dozen U.S. steel manufacturing companies across Appalachia and the Midwest.

Here’s the power behind the Ukrainian president, the criminal who funded the Ukrainian neo-Nazis’ eight-year reign of terror in the east:

Records reveal Ukraine power-broker oligarch's banking transactions in US
Oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, under FBI probe, stripped of Ukraine citizenship
MICHAEL SALLAH
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
FEB 19, 2022

Months after Ukraine oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky and his partners abandoned an Ohio steel plant and left scores of workers without jobs, financial crime experts at Deutsche Bank shot up a troubling alert. Millions of dollars were flowing into its U.S. headquarters for a business owned by the oligarch, but something wasn’t right.

Detecting signs of suspicious money — large round numbers from high-risk jurisdictions — the bank could have refused the transfers or even dropped the client.

But it didn’t do either. Despite warnings from its own employees, Deutsche allowed the money to keep pouring into its coffers six years ago while the oligarch and his partners — the power behind Ukraine’s government— secretly amassed a steel fortune in the United States.

The Justice Department has been investigating Mr. Kolomoisky and others in what prosecutors allege was a vast scheme to steal millions of dollars from Ukraine’s largest bank and move the money into the U.S. to buy steel mills and skyscrapers.

But recently unsealed federal court records show U.S. banks moved far more money than what was reported by the U.S. government — billions of dollars — for companies under the control of the power broker in patterns that went unchecked for nearly a decade.

Between 2006 and 2015, more than $4.45 billion was transferred without any apparent effort by the banks or the government to stem the movement of dollars as the Ukrainian oligarch behind Zelensky and his partners acquired an enormous real estate portfolio.

“These are cascading failures,” said Tom Cardamone, president and CEO of Global Financial Integrity, a Washington, D.C., research group that tracks money laundering.

“It’s an astonishing amount of money. You would think that anyone just doing a spot check, someone would have picked up on the tempo of the transactions, the big round numbers.”

The Block News Alliance has spent more than a year examining thousands of records — including internal bank documents and previously sealed court records — and conducted dozens of interviews that culminated in several stories about federal prosecutors’ first-ever laundering investigation of the U.S. steel industry.

But the new records released last month from federal court in New York provide an unprecedented look into the amount of money tied to the oligarch that was moving through the country — including thousands of transactions carried out by Deutsche, Germany’s largest bank with a sizable U.S. arm.

In the government’s battle against money laundering, banks are supposed to be the front line of defense by alerting the government when they spot suspicious patterns and, in some cases, refusing the transactions, says the U.S. Justice Department.

But records show that year after year, the transfers continued while prosecutors say Mr. Kolomoisky orchestrated a scheme that nearly bankrupted Ukraine’s largest financial institution and sent the nation’s economy into a recession.

Left trail of disaster

One of the richest men in Ukraine, the 59-year-old oligarch is accused of setting up shell companies, cleaning the money through U.S. properties and ultimately leaving a trail of boarded-up buildings, failed steel facilities, and millions in unpaid property taxes, court records show.

While money was transferred into the country for one of the oligarch’s companies, his operators shut down Warren Steel in Ohio in 2016, owing millions in property taxes, utility bills and supplies.

For weeks, workers were left without medical coverage because the insurance premium wasn’t paid, records and interviews show. “A lot of people left here very angry,” said Nancy Waselich, a former IT manager for the factory. “People bled for this place.”

Though no one so far has been criminally charged, prosecutors have filed legal actions to seize properties that they allege were bought with money stolen from the Ukraine bank, where Mr. Kolomoisky was a major shareholder.

The oligarch lost control of the institution in late 2016, when it was nationalized by the government, which suspected massive fraud.

Mr. Kolomoisky, who was banned last year from entering the United States by the State Department over corrupt practices, has not responded to repeated interview requests. His lawyer, Michael J. Sullivan, did not return phone messages.

Several Ukraine legal experts interviewed by the Block News Alliance say, however, that those court decisions were reached during a campaign by the oligarch to file hundreds of cases in search of favorable courts and to withdraw from other courts to avoid losing.

Last year, the Ukrainian government took action when the parliament — at the prodding of the International Monetary Fund — enacted what’s known as the “anti-Kolomoisky law” that bans him from ever gaining control over his former bank again.

‘You pull the plug’

It’s unclear from the new records the total amount of money that moved through the United States, because Mr. Kolomoisky and others shifted funds back and forth between their companies in a dizzying series of transactions.

But the sheer number of transfers — 5,222 in eight years — between companies tied to the oligarch should have prompted Deutsche and other banks to end the transactions, said Paul Pelletier, a former senior federal prosecutor who led the Justice Department’s fraud unit.

“You pull the plug,” said Mr. Pelletier, who once prosecuted money laundering cases in Miami. “The purpose of due diligence is to do red light, green light — but there was no red light. There were apparently no cops on the beat.”

The court records, which were released after the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press pushed for them, show the money coursing through the banks as the oligarch and his associates were secretly taking ownership of steel mills and office towers, 22 properties in all.

It’s also unclear from the records the purpose of the transactions and whether some of the money was generated from the steel mills when they were operating or from the oligarch’s global metals operations.

But prosecutors have identified at least nine of the companies that they claim were used to launder hundreds of millions of dollars, court records show.

Deutsche Bank, which has long maintained a U.S. headquarters in New York, declined to answer questions from the Block News Alliance, saying in an email the bank is not legally allowed to talk about its customers and internal security decisions.

In 2020, the bank acknowledged “past weaknesses” and that it “learnt from its mistakes” and has invested millions to strengthen its internal systems to detect laundering and other crimes. “We are a different bank now,” it said.

It was during an explosive court battle six years ago between the oligarch and a former business partner that the layers of Mr. Kolomoisky’s operation were stripped back and showed the massive amounts of money pouring into the U.S.

Open critical records

Through an investigation, the ex-partner’s lawyers discovered money transfers for hundreds of millions of dollars cascading into the country for companies related to Mr. Kolomoisky — 3,103 transactions by Deutsche alone, court records show.

Deutsche and other banks, along with lawyers for Mr. Kolomoisky, pushed to seal the information, saying it exposed confidential information about the banks’ customers.

Not until an effort by the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press and BuzzFeed News to press for data in federal court in the Southern District of New York in 2020 did the judge agree last month to unseal records of the transfer summaries.

Year after year, the money was coming into the country through Deutsche and other banks, with the oligarch the largest recipient of the transactions, totaling $1.25 billion, followed by his fellow Ukrainian billionaire, Gennadiy Bogolyubov — about $900 million — a partner in the U.S. real estate deals.

The records also show $174.5 million moved through Optima Ventures, a company that prosecutors say was used to launder money and buy properties, including an office park in Dallas that was once the headquarters of Mary Kay Cosmetics.

Another $96.3 million moved through Optima Acquisitions, a company that prosecutors say was used to clean money and buy steel mills.

Former employees who worked at the Ohio steel factory say they’re surprised at the amount of money flowing into the U.S. because of the difficulties they faced in getting basic parts and bills paid on time.

Just after the shutdown of the factory in 2016, money was owed to the gas and electric companies and the federal government for a fine that had been imposed for workplace safety violations.

Red flags

After years of transferring money into the country for the oligarch, Deutsche Bank filed at least three suspicious activity reports in 2016, finding patterns that raised alerts about incoming funds for one of his aviation companies.

The bank noted in one of the reports that Mr. Kolomoisky was a former Ukraine provincial governor who was suspected of widespread fraud in his country — charges he has denied. The bank’s fraud experts also questioned the legitimacy of millions in payments between companies with no known purpose for the transactions.

The reports, shared with the Block News Alliance by BuzzFeed News, show the bank started to cut its ties with the company, but not before it moved about $215 million that year. Mr. Cardamone of Global Financial Integrity said the move came too late. “That’s bolting the door behind the horse,” he said.

While the U.S. government’s case against the oligarch and his partners has gained wide publicity, the role of Deutsche in moving the money remains one of the least known elements of the entire operation, said experts interviewed by the Block News Alliance.

As a correspondent bank taking in money from overseas, Deutsche was a gateway.

“They could not have used the U.S. banking system [without Deutsche],” said Thomas Nollner, a former regulator for the Comptroller of the Currency. “The bank should have done its due diligence.”

Mr. Kolomoisky was a lightning rod of controversy in Ukraine at the time, especially after he dispatched his own armed militia into a government oil company in 2015 during a dispute.

“He’s high risk. He’s a politically exposed person. This should not have gotten by someone’s scrutiny,” Mr. Nollner said.

Mr. Pelletier, the former Justice Department fraud unit chief, said the movement of money in such large amounts raises questions about why warnings were not issued sooner.

“It’s low-hanging fruit. It’s a lot of money,” he said. “Shouldn’t we have a system that reacts quicker to that kind of money?”

He said because Mr. Kolomoisky is considered a politically exposed person and the money was arriving from offshore, it required the bank to perform an even higher level of due diligence.

“The burden is to show that the money is [suspicious],” he said. “What did it show? It doesn’t look like anyone was doing heightened due diligence.”

He said what also distinguishes the case from other laundering investigations is that the money didn’t go to the familiar havens of Miami and New York. It went to steel factories in small towns.

“It harmed real hard-working Americans in Middle America,” he said.

Post-Gazette Washington D.C. Bureau Chief Ashley Murray contributed to this report. Ukraine investigative reporter Tanya Kozyreva reported from Kiev.

Contact Michael Sallah at: msallah@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @mikesallah7.

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 09:24|| 2022-10-27 09:24|| Front Page Top

#7 Hundreds of billions pi$$ed away… Trillions soon. Do I hear a trillion? Who’s got a trillion for the Ukrainian Grifters? Gimme a trillion!

Ukrainian money launderers left a path of bankrupt factories, unpaid taxes, shuttered buildings and hundreds of steelworkers out of jobs
BY MICHAEL SALLAH | PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
APRIL 16, 2021
A POST-GAZETTE INVESTIGATION

U.S. prosecutors say Ukraine oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky, a powerful figure in his country who was banned last month by the State Department from entering the United States, secretly purchased a dozen other steel mills in small towns from Ohio to Texas.

In all, he and his associates acquired nearly two dozen properties, including four office towers in downtown Cleveland and a 484-room hotel with waterfront views in what became the foundation of his real estate empire.

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 09:37|| 2022-10-27 09:37|| Front Page Top

#8 “The military industrial complex made about 250 billion off Ukraine. That's a profit of about $1250.00 per person slaughtered”

Biden is explicit about using our tax dollars to fund all the costs of the Ukrainian shit-government. All of it, 100%, all the graft and waste, funded by you and me.

Which is to say, Zelensky’s outfit rakes in $5 billion each month from Uncle Sam.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s army is losing about 10,000 killed each month. i.e., an income of about $500,000 per Ukrainian soldier slaughtered, every month, as far as the eye can see.

Which surely is an even better ROI than our military industrial complex makes. Z-man learned his lessons well from his master.

Posted by Billy B 2022-10-27 10:13|| 2022-10-27 10:13|| Front Page Top

#9 Where's the class action suit from all the other countries that aren't getting as much from ~~Uncle Sugar~~ the American taxpayer?

Posted by M. Murcek 2022-10-27 10:29|| 2022-10-27 10:29|| Front Page Top

#10 #9 Where's the class action suit from all the other countries that aren't getting as much from Uncle Sugar the American taxpayer?

What do you think lobbyists are for?

Posted by badanov 2022-10-27 11:14|| 2022-10-27 11:14|| Front Page Top

#11 Everyone’s got a trillion for Ukraine. Just think of all the kickback opportunities.

10% for The Big Guy and Brother Jimmy.

2 and 20 for BlackRock.

20% for Z + Kolomoisky

5% for Bechtel, Brown & Root, Bouygues, Burisma, Total, XOM…

0.1% each for the Hunter, La Painter, Gen. Milley, Austin, and 500 other Swampies

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-27 11:24|| 2022-10-27 11:24|| Front Page Top

#12 Jesus. You give a Russian a keyboard, and he immediately starts writing War and Peace.

Posted by Secret Master 2022-10-27 11:32|| 2022-10-27 11:32|| Front Page Top

#13 ^ Dat you, Kolomoisky?

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 11:37|| 2022-10-27 11:37|| Front Page Top

#14 ^ Dat you, Kolomoisky?

When will Zelensky join you in Israel?

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 11:39|| 2022-10-27 11:39|| Front Page Top

#15 Ok, smarty pants, here’s the KYIV POST’s Archive on the thug-bandit Kolomoisky, the puppet master behind Zelensky. Enjoy.

That’s an independent Ukrainian source. Not Russian. Ukrainian.

Got that, boyko? Now start reading.

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 11:45|| 2022-10-27 11:45|| Front Page Top

#16

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 11:46|| 2022-10-27 11:46|| Front Page Top

#17 Jesus. You give a Russian a keyboard, and he immediately starts writing War and Peace.

Front runner for Snark O' the Day

Posted by badanov 2022-10-27 12:35|| 2022-10-27 12:35|| Front Page Top

#18 Better candidate for Snark o’ The Day:

Where's the class action suit from all the other countries that aren't getting as much from Uncle Sugar the American taxpayer?

Posted by Otto Smiter of the Leprechauns8223 2022-10-27 12:49|| 2022-10-27 12:49|| Front Page Top

#19 Front runner for Snark O' the Day

I second the motion

Posted by DarthVader 2022-10-27 12:49|| 2022-10-27 12:49|| Front Page Top

#20 #18 Better candidate for Snark o’ The Day

I second the motion

Posted by Snakes Uneater2179 2022-10-27 12:51|| 2022-10-27 12:51|| Front Page Top

#21 ^ I third the motion

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-27 12:53|| 2022-10-27 12:53|| Front Page Top

#22 “the class action suit from all the other countries that aren't getting as much from Uncle Sugar the American taxpayer”

Biden is going to blow $116 billion on his Ukraine rodeo — in all of 9 months.

That’s an order of magnitude more than W threw away on Iraq in 2003-04. And we thought that was an unbeatable world record for graft and squandered blood and treasure.

If you thought Iraq was a total shitshow, you’ll love Ukraine. Ain’t seen nothin’ yet

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-27 12:58|| 2022-10-27 12:58|| Front Page Top

#23 Welcome to the Kobayashi Maru exercise.

Posted by Procopius2k 2022-10-27 13:05|| 2022-10-27 13:05|| Front Page Top

#24 Shaddap, Verbal. Kobayashi’s mouth is full of hotdogs.

What happened to Takeru Kobayashi?

Back on topic:

The military industrial complex made about 250 billion off Ukraine. That's a profit of about $1250.00 per person slaughtered”

His math is wrong (as is Snakes Uneater’s math). Ukrainians have suffered about 90,000 KIA plus a few thousand civilians killed; Russians about 2/3 as many soldiers killed.

Plus an equivalent number of Russian-speaking civilians killed by Ukrainian shelling in Donetsk and elsewhere since Feb 17 2022 when the Ukrainians escalated their war on Donbas, and about 14,000 civilians killed from 2014 through Feb 16 2022.

Total is therefore about 90k + 5k + 30k + 5k +14k = 144,000.

$250 billion / 0.144 million = $35,000 for each dead person. Still a good day’s work (“Our business is killing. And business is good.”)

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-27 13:18|| 2022-10-27 13:18|| Front Page Top

#25 Rats! $17,000 per dead person. Still a fine day’s work.

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-27 13:22|| 2022-10-27 13:22|| Front Page Top

#26 Rats again! Should be, “Russians about 1/3 as many soldiers killed.” 30k to Ukrainians’ 90k

Posted by Palermo 2022-10-27 13:44|| 2022-10-27 13:44|| Front Page Top

#27 Thank you for being obscure, P2k. James T. would be proud.

Posted by Mullah Richard 2022-10-27 17:25|| 2022-10-27 17:25|| Front Page Top

#28 So would Kevin The Ped0 Spacey

Posted by Big Brother Is Sniffing You 2022-10-27 17:36|| 2022-10-27 17:36|| Front Page Top

#29 Kevin The Ped0 Spacey

yeah but a great actor, best of his generation

Posted by Mullet Martin 2022-10-27 18:35|| 2022-10-27 18:35|| Front Page Top

#30 My guess is, you’ll never hear from him again

Posted by Mullet Martin 2022-10-27 18:41|| 2022-10-27 18:41|| Front Page Top

#31 War and Peace

Or at least War and Paste.

Posted by Snakes Oppressor of the Munchkins4548 2022-10-27 23:34|| 2022-10-27 23:34|| Front Page Top

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