Years before he became a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into links between Donald Trump and Russia, former Trump business associate Felix Sater really was a globetrotting secret agent who risked his life to help the U.S. government "combat terrorists and rogue states," according to a newly unsealed court document. Home. At . if( inline_cta_2_url_258356 !='' ){ [62][63] Felix Sater was a member of the Chabad of Port Washington and was named their Man of the Year in 2010 and 2014.[64][65]. jQuery("#inline_cta_2_258356").html(inline_cta_2_text_258356); Privacy Notice We've received your submission. Other former Sarah Lawrence students accuse him of extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from them by extracting false confessions and blackmailing them with the records. This past February the Times published a blockbuster story by Megan Twohey and Scott Shane recounting an effort by Sater, Cohen, Gen. Mike Flynn, and a Ukrainian politician to put forward a half-cocked Ukrainian peace plan and deliver it, freelance fashion, to the White House. And Sater, too, seems to believe that something big is coming. Simpson a . 'https' : 'http'; Sater has a decades-long record as a larger-than-life, outside-the-law, spy agency-linked wheeler-dealer from the pages of a John le Carr novel. (YouTube: Felix Sater). An unindicted co-conspirator in that indictment was Felix Sater, a former business associate of Donald Trump, who helped broker the never-realized plan to build a Trump Tower Moscow. magazine_button_url_258356 = 'https://www.thenation.com/email-signup-module-donate/'; [8] BuzzFeed News reported on March 12, 2018, that Mueller's investigators had questioned Sater,[45] and on April 13, 2018, reported that a former Russian spy had helped secure financing for the project. var is_user_logged_in = getCookie('SESSname'); cta_1_check_258356 = true; Amongst other things in 1991 he got into an . By signing up to receive emails, you agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation's journalism. Historical Amnesia About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy. However, his actual height and weight are yet to be revealed. Stay tuned with us. During his time in Moscow eastern Europe, Sater cultivated ties to arms dealers, officials in US law enforcement and national security agencies, and even meeting with the Russian military intelligence agency. Felix Sater - the Trump Organization contact who pushed for a Moscow development project and Mueller investigation witness - was a decade ago a federal government informant to "a depth and. } By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 andagree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nations journalism. [23][25][26] In 1991, he smashed a margarita glass in a bar and used it to stab a commodities broker in the face, causing the man to need 110 stitches. In December 2017, the Trump SoHo was renamed to The Dominick. [9][44][47], The Financial Times, citing five sources with knowledge of the matter, reported that Sater had agreed to cooperate with investigators looking into an international money laundering scheme involving Viktor Khrapunov, a former government minister in Kazakhstan. inline_cta_button_text_258356 = ''; Portions of the information related to Italian and Russian mob operations and placed the safety of Mr. Ray and his family at risk.. })(document); Your email address will not be published. Former Donald Trump associate Felix Sater will have to face a lawsuit accusing him of laundering stolen funds in part through Trump properties, a federal judge ruled on Monday. According to Rices New York piece, Sater laundered fraud proceeds through a labyrinthine network of Caribbean shell companies, Israeli and Swiss bank accounts, and contacts in New Yorks Diamond District. In the mid-1990s, New York reports, Sater spent a great deal of time in Moscow, where, according to a friend and business partner, Sal Lauriawho later wrote a book about all of thisWe were dealing with ex-KGB generals and with the elite of Russian society.. The legendary crime boss known as Scarface, Capone gained notoriety as the Prohibition-era gangster known as the Chicago Outfit. [11], Sater received multiple subpoenas to produce documents and be deposed in the case against Mukhtar Ablyazov who is alleged to have defrauded BTA Bank of up to $5 billion as chairman. For more than 10 years, he worked with prosecutors from my office, the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York and law enforcement agents from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, providing information crucial to national security and the conviction of over 20 individuals, including those responsible for committing massive financial fraud and members of La Cosa Nostra.. He is married to his beautiful wife Viktoria Sater. And, though Trump has denied that he has any business interests in Russia, even as he was gearing up for the Republican presidential primary race, Cohen and Sater were deep into previously undisclosed talks with Russian partners about constructing a Trump-branded hotel, according to The Washington Post. Peskov, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin, confirmed the contact. Before in 1998, Sater pleaded guilty to his involvement in a $40 Million stock fraud by the Russian Mafia. In 1998, Sater pleaded guilty to his involvement in a $40 million stock fraud scheme orchestrated by the Russian Mafia,[9][10] and became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and federal prosecutors, assisting with organized crime investigations. [52] In 2010, Sater was provided business cards describing himself as "Senior Advisor to Donald Trump" with an email address at TrumpOrg.com. BLOG. He stands at a good height. [30], In 2008, Sater joined the board of the Russian real estate company Mirax Group, owned by Sergei Polonsky. magazine_button_text_258356 = ''; He was born into a Russian Jewish family as the son of Mikhail Sheferovsky and Rachel Sheferovskaya. Last time I saw him was 28 years ago, Sater told Law&Crime in a direct message, referring to Ray. Because the vast majority of Ukrainian political forces would never agree to surrender their claim to Crimea, the plan was considered a hopeless nonstarter by most experts familiar with the Ukraine crisis. var qs = Object.keys(params).reduce(function(a, k){ a.push(k + '=' + encodeURIComponent(params[k])); return a},[]).join(String.fromCharCode(38)); ), Over the next several years Arif and Sater, via Bayrock, started or collaborated with Trump on a series of hotel and resort projects in Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix, and elsewhere. if( is_user_logged_in != null ){ Rays accused accomplice Isabella Pollok, the only charged co-defendant in the case, allegedly taped the encounter. Also charged with multiple counts of that same crime, Ray now stands accused of running a very different kind of criminal enterprise: one that prosecutors say ran partly from his daughter Talia Rays communal dorm in Sarah Lawrence College. A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom. jQuery("#inline_cta_2_btn_258356 a input").css("color",inline_cta_2_font_color_258356); var inline_cta_text_258356 = ''; Former Trump Business Associate Talking To Senate Intelligence Committee", "Felix Sater, Trump Associate, Boasted That Moscow Business Deal 'Will Get Donald Elected', "Former Mafia-linked figure describes association with Trump", "Trump, the Russian Lawyer and the Pop Star: President's Links to Azerbaijan Oligarch Come Under Scrutiny", "Russia-born dealmaker linked to Trump assists laundering probe", "House Intel subpoenas Felix Sater after he fails to appear for testimony", "House Intelligence Committee to subpoena Trump associate Felix Sater", "Felix Sater slammed by House panel as uncooperative", "Trump associate Felix Sater grilled by House Intel", "Trump associate gave US government Osama bin Laden's phone number, judge says", "Judge confirms Trump associate gave feds Osama bin Laden's number", "Active Measures director says Trump's Russian mob ties are his biggest legal vulnerability", "Trump, Russia and a Shadowy Business Partnership", "Joshua Bernstein vs. Bayrock Group LLC: Felix H. Sater", "Memory Lapse? So that, the pair has not yet disclosed any information about their actual wedding date and venue. if( is_user_logged_in != null ){ McMaster hasnt responded to the idea, which is probably long dead. Drager acknowledged the 53-year-old may have some financial troubles due to the fact that he was involved in an investigation. When he was just eight-years-old, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland and later settled in Brighton Beach, New York. Speaking of cow farts & CO2 Carbon dioxide is thoroughly mixed in soda. [8] The letter, also signed by Russian investor Andrei Rozov, was forwarded to Cohen by Sater. It all came crashing down in 1998, when New York City police uncovered a stash of guns and documents in a mini-storage locker in SoHo implicating Sater and his partners in the fraud and money-laundering schemes. Furthermore, he has brown eyes and hair color is dark brown. According to the Times, Sater met Cohen and Artemenko at a New York hotel just two blocks from Cohens current residence in Trump Park Avenue. Also, FBI reported his conviction of extorting money from local restaurants, grocery stores, and medical clinic. Felix Sater a channel to Russia, convicted felon, and associate of Donald Trump provides the perfect window into Trump's suspect business practices and network. [21], Sater attended Pace University, dropping out at the age of 18[2][22] to work on Wall Street, initially as a cold-caller at Bear Stearns. } document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Colorful former Trump business associate Felix Sater who will testify before two congressional panels this week about Trump and Russia is facing more legal woes after his wife of 25 years, Viktoria, slapped him with divorce papers. Thanks for contacting us. Sater said he most clearly remembers the beginning of his relationship with Cohen from the time the former Trump Organization attorney began dating his now-wife, whom Sater describes as a girl . In 2014, a popular revolt toppled Ukraines pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, who was replaced by another oligarch, the pro-Western Petro Poroshenko. Childhood-Wall St 1966-1993. }else{ He stabbed the man's cheek and neck with the stem of a cocktail glass, breaking his jaw, lacerating his face, and severing nerves, creating a wound that would require 110 stitches to treat. Well, Felix also finished a project for The Trump Organization of a building construction with a full cost of around $450 Million in a 46-story and 391-unit hotel condominium located at the Spring Street in SoHo. In 1991, Sater reportedly smashed a margarita glass in a bar and stabbed a commodities broker in the face with it, requiring the man to get 110 stitches, according to the New York Times. Have Voters Noticed? Felix Sater was born as Felix Mikhailovich Sheferovsky on 2 March 1966, in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR. Around 2005, Sater identified a location for a Trump Tower in the Russian capital, and he says that he personally escorted Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump around Moscow back thenan assertion that neither of the Trumps have denied. var inline_cta_2_text_258356 = ''; Colorful former Trump business associate Felix Sater who will testify before two congressional panels this week about Trump and Russia is facing more legal woes after his wife of 25. The central Asian country was once part of the Soviet Union. Yet the role of Sater and Cohen, both Trump associates, contributed to the growing belief in Washington that Trump, who has steadily refused to criticize Putin for his authoritarian excesses, extrajudicial killings, and suppression of free expression in Russia, has questionable ties to Russia. [16][15], His wife, Viktoria, is the founder and owner of a granola health food company. Mr. Sater and Mr. Klotsman were at El Rio Grande, a Midtown watering hole, celebrating with a friend and eventual co-conspirator . Moreover, Sater holds an American nationality and belongs to a Russian-American ethnicity. inline_cta_2_text_258356 = 'Give a gift subscription today!
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'; Sater Went to Prison for Stabbing a Broker With a Martini Glass Stem in the Face in 1991. His past record includes a conviction for lacerating a mans face with a broken margarita glass in a bar brawl and his involvement in a multimillion-dollar stock fraud and money-laundering scheme. This story has been shared 129,285 times. targeting:{ Previously a reporter for Courthouse News, he has appeared as a guest on NewsNation, NBC, MSNBC, CBS's "Inside Edition," BBC, NPR, PBS, Sky News, and other networks. Cohen and Felix Sater have known each other for nearly 30 years. tn_loc:'atf' Also Read:Brooke Blurton Bio, Age, Height, Weight, Net Worth, Boyfriend & Dating. cta_2_check_258356 = true; Learn how your comment data is processed. cta_1_check_258356 = true; Sater possibly did this because of Menez finding out about his past convictions and links to organized crime. Update: Sater told Talking Points Memo he knew Cohen through Cohen's wife, Laura . I will manage this process." Multiple witnesses have testified that Ray and his daughter Talia compulsively talked about how they believed Kerik trying to exact elaborate payback for his cooperation. magazine_text_258356 = 'Subscribe today and Save up to $129.
'; tn_author: ['bob-d'], He pleaded guilty in 1998 to one count of. Though Sater claimed that he cooperated and provided information about the Trump Tower project, Patrick Boland, spokesman for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, denied this and stated that Sater only partially cooperated and showed defiance by withholding requested testimony and documents concerning a real estate project which Sater acknowledged was falsely presented as a joint defense agreement between Trump and Russia and the telephone conversations pertaining to this agreement. [60] He was then rescheduled to give closed-door testimony on June 21, 2019. Bagli was the first to uncover and report in depth on Saters criminal past. var inline_cta_font_color_258356 = ''; Drager said this substantiates to the court that the defendant [Felix] does have financial resources contrary to his claims.. Rays alleged victim Rosario remembered the accused Sarah Lawrence cult leader and his father Poppy boasting about similar barroom brawls. Fisher MB LLC purchased a condo in Miami, Florida for $4.8 million. In a statement to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence last week, Cohen did admit writing to Dmitry Peskov in connection with Saters work. Former President Trump associate Felix Sater must pay $14,000 a month in temporary alimony to his estranged wife, a judge ruled Thursday after finding he had been splashing cash on restaurants and Ubers. While Robert Mueller found that Trump did not collude nor conspire with Russia, Sater who has powerful Russian oligarch contacts, as well as strong links in the Russian business and intelligence community, is expected to be interrogated by Congress about involvement in the Trump Tower Moscow project and other Trump business dealings. This article is converted from Wikipedia: Felix Sater. Its no wonder that Trump, especially now that hes under investigation over his ties to Russia and its meddling in the 2016 election, would respond to questions about Sater by saying: Whos he? Felix Sater is a Russian-born dealmaker who served as managing director for Bayrock Group, a real estate development firm with an office two floors down from The Trump Organization in Trump Tower. freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ if( inline_cta_url_258356 !='' ){ Mr. freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ Biden Has Gotten a Lot Done. [20], Felix Sater is reportedly a childhood friend of Michael Cohen. } This story has been shared 75,075 times. [2][9][29] In 1998, Sater was convicted of fraud in connection to a $40 million penny stock pump and dump scheme conducted by the Russian Mafia[9][10] involving his company White Rock Partners. [48] Ablyazov's alleged fraud is one of the biggest cases of financial fraud in history. The ex-NYPD chief was convicted in part because of $165,000 in free renovations that he received from contractor Frank DiTommaso, a construction executive whose company Interstate allegedly had mob connections, according to the New York Times. The woman who called herself the wife of accused Sarah Lawrence sex cult leader Larry Ray told a federal jury that she was frightened to leave him in part because of a remark he made about his family. The company denied that allegation, but Kerik was charged with steering contracts to it. Significantly, the prosecutor who oversaw Saters cooperation agreement in the 1998 indictment, now sealed, was Andrew Weissmannwho is currently one of 16 prosecutors and criminal justice officials on the staff of special counsel Robert Mueller, whos leading the Russiagate inquiry. She is expected to stand trial separately in July. He has not revealed his body measurements. if( inline_cta_2_button_text_258356 !='' ){ Sater, who served a year in jail in the 1990s for stabbing a man in the face, later served as an FBI informant after pleading guilty to being involved in a $40-million stock-fraud scheme orchestrated by the Russian Mafia; this conviction was sealed. slotId: "thenation_article_indent", He is a convicted felon who has been accused of dealings with Russian and American organized crime. id: "beb5f82f-dce3-49e6-a836-cf24eb78a6f6", Khrapunov, who now lives in Switzerland, has been accused by the Kazakhstani government of embezzling millions of dollars and is wanted by Interpol. Nearly two months after the $25 million hit the granola company's accounts, the bank wrote in a SAR, Sater's wife went to a branch on Long Island and tried to deposit a $20 million check into an account belonging to Moses & Singer, a Manhattan law firm. The report describes Sater as a "New York-based real estate advisor," which is technically accurate but a bit like calling O.J. Rays alleged victim at the heart of the sex-trafficking claim, Claudia Drury, told a jury that he forced her into prostitution and took $2.5 million of her earnings. [44] As a result of his assistance, Sater's court records were sealed by Loretta Lynch, then the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Despite that record, which came before he worked with Trump, Sater spent nearly a decade working with the Trump Organization in search of deals in Russia and other former Soviet republics. [11], During Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Sater worked with Michael Cohen, former attorney for The Trump Organization, to broker a deal to build a Trump Tower Moscow, asserting to Cohen that he could boost Trump's election prospects through his Russian contacts. Sater Regency Capital 1998; } The building is a $450 million, 46-story, 391-unit hotel condominium located at 246 Spring Street in SoHo, New York City. Current Issue exitPopMobile: true, An unindicted co-conspirator in that indictment was Felix Sater, a former business associate of Donald Trump, who helped broker the never-realized plan to build a Trump Tower Moscow. Emailus. Felix Sater: the enigmatic businessman at the heart of the Trump-Russia inquiry The Moscow-born former Trump associate's name emerged in leaked emails - and he tells the Guardian to expect. Though his supposed relation to Capone is unverified at best, Ray has documented ties to organized crime. [34][35], In addition to real estate development endeavors, Sater also has started businesses in the fields of philanthropy, investment, retail, and energy. }, Sorting out Saters checkered past leads into a convoluted labyrinth of crime, legal entanglements, shady deals, alleged ties to US and foreign intelligence agencies and, of course, intimate connections to Donald Trump and the Trump Organization. [2][26] In January 2022, Sater claimed that the barfight victim had tried to decline pressing charges, but that the U.S. government kept pressing because they wanted cooperation from Sater's father. He has a sister, Regina. But she noted it wasnt a first for him. According to the Times, Sater gave Cohen the proposal in a sealed envelope, who reportedly said he left it in Flynns office. They met in Brighton Beach when Cohen started dating his future wife, Shusterman's daughter, Laura, who Sater says he knew. inline_cta_2_url_258356 = 'https://subscriptions.thenation.com/loading.do?omedasite=Nation_Gift'; tn_articleid: [258356], tn_subject: ['criminal-j', 'election-2', 'political-', 'world-lead'], In his interview with New York magazine, he hinted ominously about the near future. However, the couple has not yet disclosed any information about how they met for the first time. The proposed plan would require that Russian forces withdraw from eastern Ukraine and that Ukraine hold a referendum on whether Crimea should be "leased" to Russia for 50 or 100 years. top of page. Trump ultimately pardoned away Keriks convictions. As The New York Times reported in the 2007 article, Sater first found trouble with the law in 1991. (Photo of Ray via DOJ; image of Capone credited to FBI), Have a tip we should know? Moreover, the couple is also blessed with three daughters. Allegedly preying upon the students there, Rays supposed syndicate included sex-trafficking one student and extorting and threatening others. var inline_cta_2_url_258356 = ''; You can read our Privacy Policy here. But on August 28, Sater made the front pages of the Times and The Washington Post, thanks to leaked copies of e-mails that he sent in late 2015 and early 2016 to Cohen, concerning Saters efforts to work with a group of Russian investors to set up a flagship Trump property in the Russian capital. jQuery("#magazine_button_258356 a").attr("href",magazine_button_url_258356); Felixs April credit card statement showed that hed made a $50,000 payment for the prior month and had spent $25,000 in the current statement, including at restaurants and a lot of money on Uber rides, Drager said. Sater and Al Qaeda 1998-? Felix Sater, an American entrepreneurial financier and real estate developer, was employed as managing director of Bayrock Group from 2003 to 2008. Now Saters wife, Viktoria, 51, a striking blonde with whom he lived on Long Island and shares three daughters, has had enough, according to a source, and filed for divorce March 19. As controversy . At a hearing last month, Drager scolded Felix for not yet having filed his 2018 taxes. The Donald Trump business associate last month splashed down in the middle of a New York Times story about a freelanced Ukraine "peace proposal" hand-delivered to the White House by Mr. Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen. It does seem to me that the defendant has resources and is bringing in income and his spending habits, which Drager said may be less than they used to be, are still quite significant..