New #FinCENFiles: Aras Agalarov, a close associate of Vladimir Putin who also has strong ties to the White House, made $600,000 in “suspicious” payments to Nobu, the famous sushi and hotel brand buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
In 2009, the hospitality giant expanded into Russia. Agalarov, a billionaire real estate developer, paved the way for two Moscow restaurants, one in the heart of the city and another in the Crocus City megamall buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
Agalarov is an unlikely business partner for a hospitality empire cofounded by Robert De Niro, who is an outspoken critic of Donald Trump. Agalarov was a key player in the 2016 Trump Tower meeting where senior members of the Trump campaign expected to get dirt on Hillary Clinton
Confidential government documents now reveal Agalarov’s company, Crocus International, paid licensing fees to Nobu through untraceable offshore companies for the two Moscow locations they run. buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
The documents do not suggest that De Niro himself was involved in or even aware of these financial irregularities, and they do not fault Nobu, which the bank referred to as “non-concerning.” buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
In an August 2015 report First Republic Bank sent to the Treasury Department, Nobu’s corporate controller, Merrick Rhodes, reminded Crocus International in an email that payments needed to be sent from the company’s account and not through other companies. buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
Rhodes told BuzzFeed News he knew that First Republic might not be happy about the third-party payments. And by the time Nobu Crocus City opened in November of 2015, investigators from the bank spotted more than $200,000 in payments they deemed suspicious. buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
Documents filed between November 2014 and June 2017 show First Republic Bank flagged $602,886 that at least 10 different offshore companies, all associated with Agalarov, sent to Nobu. buzzfeednews.com/article/johnte…
These documents are part of the more than 2,100 suspicious activity reports that BuzzFeed News shared with @ICIJorg and more than 100 news organizations around the world as part of the #FinCENFiles investigation
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