FBI agents swarm Washington home of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska
FBI agents on Tuesday swarmed the home of Russian oligarch
Oleg Deripaska in Washington, D.C., an agency spokesperson confirmed to NBC
News.
The reason for their presence wasn’t immediately clear. The
spokesperson said the agency is conducting “law enforcement activity at the
home” but wouldn’t elaborate.
The investigation is being led by federal investigators in
New York City, according to two officials briefed on the matter.
Lawyers for Deripaska, a billionaire oil tycoon with close
ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not immediately return requests
for comment.
The 11,000-square-foot home sits on one of the most
exclusive blocks in Washington.
Next-door neighbor George Conway, the husband of former
President Donald Trump senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, walked over to the
house Tuesday afternoon to snap a photo of the law enforcement activity. Conway
said he has never seen Deripaska at the home.
Deripaska, who is a longtime associate of former Trump
campaign chairman Paul Manafort, was among two dozen Russian oligarchs and
officials who were sanctioned by the Treasury Department in April 2018.
A news release announcing the sanctions said Deripaska has
been investigated for money laundering and accused of “threatening the lives of
business rivals, illegally wiretapping a government official, and taking part
in extortion and racketeering.”
He sued the U.S. over the sanctions, but a federal court
judge dismissed the case in June. Deripaska has appealed the ruling.
NBC News reported in January 2018 that the Russian tycoon
had been repeatedly denied a visa to enter the United States over his alleged
ties to organized crime.
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