Editor's note: This Shark believes that it is much more convenient to indict our local crooks in the Probate Court of Cook County. Less travel expense and they are here. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Billionaire Ukrainian industrialist indicted in Chicago on bribery charges
Billionaire Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash and five other foreign nationals have been indicted by federal prosecutors in Chicago. (Maks Levin, Reuters / May 18, 2010)
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Billionaire Ukrainian industrialist Dmytro Firtash and five other foreign nationals have been indicted by federal prosecutors in Chicago on charges they participated in an international racketeering conspiracy involving at least $18.5 million in bribes to state and central government officials in India to allow the mining of titanium minerals.
The scheme involved a plan to sell millions of pounds of minerals mined in India to Chicago-based Boeing Co., which was identified in the indictment only as “Company A.” But Boeing has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Firtash, 48, one of Ukraine's most influential oligarchs, was arrested at the request of the FBI last month in Vienna and released a week later after posting bond of nearly $174 million. He has been ordered as part of his bond to stay in Austria as U.S. prosecutors seek to have him extradited to Chicago to face the charges – a process that could take months.
Firtash, who has long allied himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested amid the political upheaval in Ukraine that has led to Russia’s seizure of the Crimean Peninsula. Prosecutors, though, said the charges were filed under seal last June in Chicago and have nothing to do with recent events in Ukraine.
The indictment alleged that beginning in 2006, the defendants conspired to pay at least $18.5 million in bribes to secure licenses to mine minerals in the eastern coastal Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The mining project was expected to generate more than $500 million annually from the sale of titanium products, including sales to “Company A.”
According to a statement it released today, Boeing said it signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Firtash-owned Bothli Trade in 2006 “to conduct a feasibility study on the potential for sourcing titanium sponge.”
“This was at a time of short supply of the material,” the company said in the statement. “But Boeing never pursued the (plan) as supply became more plentiful and the (memorandum of understanding) lapsed.”
Boeing said in the statement that it has never done any other business with Bothli.
After the charges were announced today, Firtash’s business conglomerate, Group DF, released a statement calling Firtash’s arrest “an abuse of the Austrian justice system for ulterior political motives.”
“There is no truth to the accusations,” DF Group Deputy Chairman Robert Shetler-Jones said in the statement. “It is not a coincidence that the U.S. is trying to extradite our chairman at the moment when Mr. Firtash is needed for the economic and political reconstruction of Ukraine.”
The five other defendants remain at large. They include K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, 65, a well-connected member of parliament in India; Hungarian businessman Andras Knopp, 75; Suren Gevorgyan, 40, of Ukraine; Gajendra Lal, 50, an Indian national who recently had lived in North Carolina; and Periyasamy Sunderalingham, 60, of Sri Lanka.
Firtash controls an international conglomerate of companies known as Group DF, and in 2006 two of those companies agreed with the government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to set up a joint venture to mine various minerals, including one which may be processed into various titanium-based products such as titanium sponge, according to the charges.
According to the indictment, Company A in 2007 sought to enter into a supply agreement in which one of Firtash’s companies would sell 5 to 12 million pounds of titanium sponge annually from the Indian project to Company A.
Firtash used his business reputation, financial resources as well as “threats and intimidation” to orchestrate and conceal a bribery scheme involving Indian officials who needed to approve licenses before the mining could take place, according to the charges.
Knopp, who along with Firtash met with Indian government officials about the plan, also met with Company A representatives to discuss supplying titanium products from the project, according to the charges. Gevorgyan allegedly traveled to Seattle and met with Company A representatives.
All six defendants were charged in the indictment with one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy as well as two counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Five defendants, excluding Rao, were charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The most serious charges carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison on each count.
The indictment seeks forfeiture from Firtash of all interests in Group DF and its assets, including 14 companies registered in Austria, 18 companies in the British Virgin Islands and more than 100 other companies from Cyprus to Switzerland. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of more than $10.5 million from all six defendants.
“Criminal conspiracies that extend beyond our borders are not beyond our reach,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said in a statement. “We will use all of the tools and resources available to us to ensure the integrity of global business transactions that involve U.S. commerce.”
Firtash's Group DF company has called the case a "misunderstanding" that should be resolved soon.
“I respect the Austrian and American legal systems and will defend my interests according to the legislation of these countries,” Firtash said in a statement on the company’s web site. “I am convinced in my innocence. This incident is the result of a misunderstanding and will be resolved in the nearest future.”
jmeisner@tribune.com
The scheme involved a plan to sell millions of pounds of minerals mined in India to Chicago-based Boeing Co., which was identified in the indictment only as “Company A.” But Boeing has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Firtash, 48, one of Ukraine's most influential oligarchs, was arrested at the request of the FBI last month in Vienna and released a week later after posting bond of nearly $174 million. He has been ordered as part of his bond to stay in Austria as U.S. prosecutors seek to have him extradited to Chicago to face the charges – a process that could take months.
Firtash, who has long allied himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested amid the political upheaval in Ukraine that has led to Russia’s seizure of the Crimean Peninsula. Prosecutors, though, said the charges were filed under seal last June in Chicago and have nothing to do with recent events in Ukraine.
The indictment alleged that beginning in 2006, the defendants conspired to pay at least $18.5 million in bribes to secure licenses to mine minerals in the eastern coastal Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The mining project was expected to generate more than $500 million annually from the sale of titanium products, including sales to “Company A.”
According to a statement it released today, Boeing said it signed a “memorandum of understanding” with Firtash-owned Bothli Trade in 2006 “to conduct a feasibility study on the potential for sourcing titanium sponge.”
“This was at a time of short supply of the material,” the company said in the statement. “But Boeing never pursued the (plan) as supply became more plentiful and the (memorandum of understanding) lapsed.”
Boeing said in the statement that it has never done any other business with Bothli.
After the charges were announced today, Firtash’s business conglomerate, Group DF, released a statement calling Firtash’s arrest “an abuse of the Austrian justice system for ulterior political motives.”
“There is no truth to the accusations,” DF Group Deputy Chairman Robert Shetler-Jones said in the statement. “It is not a coincidence that the U.S. is trying to extradite our chairman at the moment when Mr. Firtash is needed for the economic and political reconstruction of Ukraine.”
The five other defendants remain at large. They include K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, 65, a well-connected member of parliament in India; Hungarian businessman Andras Knopp, 75; Suren Gevorgyan, 40, of Ukraine; Gajendra Lal, 50, an Indian national who recently had lived in North Carolina; and Periyasamy Sunderalingham, 60, of Sri Lanka.
Firtash controls an international conglomerate of companies known as Group DF, and in 2006 two of those companies agreed with the government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to set up a joint venture to mine various minerals, including one which may be processed into various titanium-based products such as titanium sponge, according to the charges.
According to the indictment, Company A in 2007 sought to enter into a supply agreement in which one of Firtash’s companies would sell 5 to 12 million pounds of titanium sponge annually from the Indian project to Company A.
Firtash used his business reputation, financial resources as well as “threats and intimidation” to orchestrate and conceal a bribery scheme involving Indian officials who needed to approve licenses before the mining could take place, according to the charges.
Knopp, who along with Firtash met with Indian government officials about the plan, also met with Company A representatives to discuss supplying titanium products from the project, according to the charges. Gevorgyan allegedly traveled to Seattle and met with Company A representatives.
All six defendants were charged in the indictment with one count each of racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy as well as two counts of interstate travel in aid of racketeering. Five defendants, excluding Rao, were charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The most serious charges carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison on each count.
The indictment seeks forfeiture from Firtash of all interests in Group DF and its assets, including 14 companies registered in Austria, 18 companies in the British Virgin Islands and more than 100 other companies from Cyprus to Switzerland. The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of more than $10.5 million from all six defendants.
“Criminal conspiracies that extend beyond our borders are not beyond our reach,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said in a statement. “We will use all of the tools and resources available to us to ensure the integrity of global business transactions that involve U.S. commerce.”
Firtash's Group DF company has called the case a "misunderstanding" that should be resolved soon.
“I respect the Austrian and American legal systems and will defend my interests according to the legislation of these countries,” Firtash said in a statement on the company’s web site. “I am convinced in my innocence. This incident is the result of a misunderstanding and will be resolved in the nearest future.”
jmeisner@tribune.com
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