Who is Lev Leviev

Who is Lev Leviev Then

Lev Leviev is a Soviet-born Israeli diamond mogul and real estate tycoon who calls Vladimir Putin a “true friend.”⁴ Leviev was a partner in Prevezon Holdings, a Russian company owned by Denis Katsyv, who is the son of the vice president of the state-owned Russian Railways and a former deputy governor of the Moscow region.¹ In 2013 U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara took Prevezon court over Russian money laundering allegations; New York apartments owned by Leviev were alleged to have served as a conduit for the laundering. Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian attorney who met with Donald Trump Jr and other members of the Trump campaign at the June, 2016, Trump Tower meeting, represented Prevezon in the case. ²³

Lev Leviev and Vladimir Putin

Lev Leviev and Vladimir Putin

U.S. authorities said money laundering by Prevezon was first uncovered by Russian whistleblower accountant Sergei Magnitsky. After going public with the accusations Magnitsky was arrested on tax evasion charges; he died a year later in a Russian prison under suspicious circumstances. His death led to the passage of the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 U.S. law that bars Russians suspected of human rights abuses from entering the US and freezes their foreign assets. ⁵ Many Russians affected by the Magnitsky Act are connected to the Russian government, and much of Putin’s personal wealth is believed to be tied up in those assets. In retaliation for the Magnitsky Act Putin stopped the American adoption of Russian children. Veselnitskaya said she was lobbying to have the Magnitsky Act cancelled when she met with Trump Jr. and other members of the Trump Campaign. Putin also created an “anti-Magnitsky” blacklist of United States citizens; among those blacklisted was Preet Bharara.⁶⁷⁸

Lev Leviev and Donald Trump

Lev Leviev and Donald Trump

Leviev is a longtime close associate of Rotem Rosen, a New York City real estate tycoon and friend and business associate of Trump who accompanied Trump on his 2013 trip to Russia during the 2013 Miss Universe pageant.⁹ Rosen has worked for the American branch of Leviev’s holding company Africa Israel Investments (AEI). In 2015 Jared Kushner bought part of the old New York Times building from AEI and a partner company for $295 million; AEI was also implicated in the Prevezon Russian money laundering case.¹⁰¹¹

Two months into his presidency Donald Trump fired Bharara.¹² Two months later Prevezon settled for $6 million without admitting guilt just as the case was about to go to trial.¹³¹⁴

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