The FBI attacks US home of Russian oligarch Putin -pal Deripaska

By Shimon Prokupecz and Sarah Fortinsky | CNN

The FBI is conducting “law enforcement” in Washington, DC, home of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to an FBI spokesman.

The activity is linked to a federal investigation from New York, the spokesman said, but could not provide further information. A source familiar with the matter says the investigation has been “ongoing” but has not provided further details either.

In the home, the driveway was closed off with police tapes marked “crime scene not coming in” with several law enforcement cars parked on the street outside. An FBI agent guarded the driveway, and several other agents were seen walking in and out of the large home in Washington’s Kalorama neighborhood.

The FBI also conducted a search of a New York location associated with Deripaska, according to an FBI official.

The searches made on two homes are “related to U.S. sanctions,” Deripaska representative Larisa Belyaeva told Russian news agency TASS, adding that he is not the owner of the houses.

NBC News first reported on the searches.

Deripaska was sanctioned by the United States back in 2018 in response to Russian interference in the 2016 election. participated in extortion and crime. ” Earlier this year, Deripaska lost a lawsuit to have the sanctions lifted.

Deripaska’s name emerged in Special Attorney Robert Mueller’s investigation because of his longstanding ties to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Manafort had worked for Deripaska and represented him on “business and personal matters in countries where he had investments” and promoting the interests of his aluminum company Rusal.

Deripaska has rejected any connection to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election that Mueller investigated.

Deripaska once lent him $ 10 million, according to lawsuits from Mueller’s investigation. Manafort was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison for bank and tax fraud and foreign lobbying-related crimes, but received the final pardon from President Donald Trump.

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