LONDON — The U.S. is in search of the extradition of British businessman Graham Bonham-Carter, charged with conspiring to breach sanctions imposed by Washington on a Russian oligarch.
The U.S. Division of Justice mentioned Bonham-Carter was arrested within the U.Okay. on Tuesday after being accused of constructing funds for U.S. properties bought by Oleg Deripaska, one in all Russia’s strongest oligarchs and a metals magnate, and expatriating his art work from New York Metropolis to London.
“Bonham-Carter obscured the origin of funding for maintenance and administration of Deripaska’s lavish U.S. belongings, in violation of the worldwide sanctions,” Manhattan legal professional Damian Williams mentioned in an announcement.
Bonham-Carter is accused of constructing illicit transactions value greater than $1 million to fund properties within the U.S. for Deripaska’s profit, following an investigation carried out with “substantial help” from the U.Okay.’s Nationwide Crime Company (NCA). He faces three totally different fees, every one carrying a most sentence of 20 years in jail.
The businessman was launched on bail after showing earlier than Westminster Magistrates Courtroom in London.
The U.S. authorities alleged that Bonham-Carter labored for Deripaska for almost 20 years, and managed the oligarch’s actual property within the U.Okay. and different European international locations, together with a home in London’s swanky Belgravia Sq..
Deripaska was sanctioned by the U.Okay. in March as a part of a gaggle of oligarchs focused over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That very same month, a choose at Westminster Magistrates Courtroom froze Bonham-Carter’s financial institution accounts and gave the NCA six months to analyze, amid allegations a few of his properties and corporations that he’s linked to in truth belonged to Deripaska.
In a single e mail, dated October 2021 and disclosed by the U.S. Division of Justice, Bonham-Carter wrote: “It[’]s all good other than banks maintain shutting me down due to my affiliation to my boss Oleg Deripaska … I’ve even been suggested to not go to the USA the place Oleg nonetheless has private sanctions because the authorities will undoubtedly pull me to 1 aspect and the questioning may very well be hours and even days!!”
