FBI raids NY, DC homes of Vlad pal
The FBI swarmed two houses tied to Russian oligarch and Vladimir Putin associate Oleg Deripaska in New York City and Washington, DC, on Tuesday, according to officials.
An FBI spokesperson would not say why the raids were being carried out but said it was tied to a federal investigation out of New York. The agency would only say they were part of courtauthorized “law enforcement activity.”
Throughout the afternoon, multiple agents could be seen inside a DC mansion linked to the 53-year-old — in a swanky neighborhood known to be home to diplomats.
The property had been cordoned off with yellow “CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER” tape and agents with the FBI’s Evidence Response Team were spotted hauling boxes and other items to and from the mansion.
Lawyer George Conway was spotted walking over to the home and snapping pictures of the raid using his cellphone. His wife, Kellyanne Conway, was a White House aide to former President Donald Trump.
In New York, federal agents blocked off a Greenwich Village street and were seen in and out of a brick building.
Deripaska’s spokesman confirmed the raids on the DC and Big Apple properties, but said both homes belonged to the oligarch’s relatives.
“The FBI is indeed currently conducting searches of houses belonging to Oleg Deripaska’s relatives. The searches are being carried out on the basis of two court warrants related to the US sanctions,” the rep told Reuters.
“The houses in question are located in New York and Washington, DC, and are not owned by Oleg Deripaska himself,” the spokesman said.
Deripaska, an aluminum billionaire who is an ally of the Russian president, has been the subject of US sanctions since 2018. He was among about two dozen blacklisted by the Trump administration over ties to Putin amid allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
As a result, Deripaska had his USbased assets frozen by the government. Deripaska had previously sued the US to have the sanctions lifted, but his case was dismissed back in June.
He was mentioned multiple times in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
He also had ties to Trump’s ex-campaign manager, Paul Manafort, whom he had on his payroll for years. Manafort was convicted of eight financial crimes as part of Mueller’s investigation and was later pardoned by Trump.