Просто бизнес

[tijd]

Сет Хеттена, автор книги Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, раскопал интересную историю из 1987: Узнав, что советское правительство ищет западных партнеров для организации тотализатора/казино на московском ипподроме, Трамп через свои контакты предложил услуги.

The deal included Dr. Svyatoslav Fyodorov, a renowned Russian eye surgeon, and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, whose name was personally referenced in the conversations, Kornhauser told me. The idea was to cater to the growing numbers of Westerners in Moscow and attract much needed foreign currency into the Soviet Union. <...>
The Moscow casino group wanted an American company to run the gaming facility at the Hippodrome. So Kornhauser contacted a few of the major players in the gaming industry in the fall of 1987: Carnival, Bally’s, Harrah’s, and Trump.
Kornhauser says he had several calls with Trump’s longtime executive assistant, Norma Foederer, who died in 2013. He never spoke directly to Trump.
Everyone passed, except Carnival. The cruise ship operator had some experience in international gaming and did express interest in the Hippodrome casino, but the deal ultimately fell through.
Despite what Kornhauser was led to believe, Trump was interested in the casino deal.
“Unbeknownst to me, he had his own contacts to Russia,” Kornhauser told me. “He reached out to his contacts in Russia. They passed the name on. He contacted the Russian team. They told the Germans, who told me.”
“The Russians who talked to him said ‘No thank you,'” he said. “If you want to do business you go through the proper channels.”
https://trump-russia.com/2018/06/18/trumps-1987-moscow-casino-deal/



Более недавний бизнес изучили в McClatchy, задокументировав более $100 миллионов, потраченными покупателями из России и бывшего СССР на покупку квартир в США, принадлежащих Трампу. То, что за квартиры платили наличными и по завышенной цене косвенно указывает на возможное отмывание денег.

Buyers connected to Russia or former Soviet republics made 86 all-cash sales - totaling nearly $109 million - at 10 Trump-branded properties in South Florida and New York City, according to a new analysis shared with McClatchy. Many of them made purchases using shell companies designed to obscure their identities. <...> There's nothing illegal about accepting cash for real estate. But transactions that do not involve mortgages - which account for one in four residential purchases in the country - raise red flags for law enforcement officials as it could be a way to commit fraud or launder money.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article210477439.html

Ранее похожее сообщение, с более осторожной оценкой и включая толко Флориду, было в расследовании Reuters:

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump downplayed his business ties with Russia. And since taking office as president, he has been even more emphatic.
“I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia,” President Trump said at a news conference last month. “I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia.”
But in the United States, members of the Russian elite have invested in Trump buildings. A Reuters review has found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida, according to public documents, interviews and corporate records.
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/




Что касается текущих сомнительных бизнес-связей, в них опять отличился министр торговли Уилбур Росс. В бумагах о своем назначении, он слегка соврал о диверсификации своего бизнеса, в том числе связанного с Россией, и пытался на этом бизнесе немного подзаработать без отрыва от исполнения служебных обязанностей.

Журнал Forbes, раздраженный на Росса из-за того, что он им систематически врал о размере своего состояния, публикует издевательский репортаж:

- For most of last year, Ross served as secretary of commerce while maintaining stakes in companies co-owned by the Chinese government, a shipping firm tied to Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, a Cypriot bank reportedly caught up in the Robert Mueller investigation and a huge player in an industry Ross is now investigating. It’s hard to imagine a more radioactive portfolio for a cabinet member.
- To this day, Ross’ family apparently continues to have an interest in these toxic holdings. Rather than dump them all, the commerce secretary sold some of his interests to Goldman Sachs-and, according to Ross himself, put others in a trust for his family members. He continued to deal with China, Russia and others while evidently knowing that his family’s interests were tied to those countries.
- In addition, five days before reports surfaced last fall that Ross was connected to cronies of Vladimir Putin through a shipping firm called Navigator Holdings, the secretary of commerce, who likely knew about the reporting, shorted stock in the Kremlin-linked company, positioning himself to make money on the investment when share prices dropped.
- Absurdly, maintaining all those conflicts of interest appears to be entirely legal-a reflection of ethics laws woefully unprepared for governing tycoons like Donald Trump and Wilbur Ross.
- Ross appears to have broken one law, however: submitting a sworn statement to federal officials in November saying he divested of everything he had promised he would-even though he still held more than $10 million worth of stock in financial firm Invesco, his former employer. He also continued to hold a short position in a bank called Sun Bancorp, a company he had promised to divest. The next month, Ross got rid of interests in both.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2018/06/18/lies-china-and-putin-solving-the-mystery-of-wilbur-ross-missing-fortune-trump-commerce-secretary-cabinet-conflicts-of-interest/

Но на фоне другой коррупции в кабинете Трампа бизнес на стороне у министра торговли выглядит невинной шалостью.