Earlier today, I wrote a story suggesting that Vnesheconombank, the state-owned development bank owned by the Russian federation, might be behind the Trump Tower deal. My speculation was that Trump opened himself up to blackmail by Putin as a result.
I’m digging a little more, and it turns out that the letter of intent for Trump Tower was signed by a representative for IC Expert Investment Company. The ownership of the company regularly shifts, but at the time it was owned in part by Kolinsen Trading Limited LLC, a Cyprus-based company — which shared a PO Box and address with Sergei Pugachev, a Russian national, formerly known as Putin’s banker, and who Russia now alleges used the company as his personal money-laundering service. Kolinsen was a 60% participant; the other two entities were Trianguli Limited, a shell company with a Marshall Islands registration; and Eko-Prestizh, a Moscow-based developer.
Three weeks after the letter of intent was signed, the three companies on the Russian side signed over 100% of their interest to Sberbank, a bank wholly majority owned by the Russian government, in exchange for a loan. Hats off to Scott Stedman, who dug all of this up a year ago.
It gets weird now. Trump signs an agreement with a Russian company, backed in part by a company owned by Putin’s enemy/former friend, who is somehow able to obtain a loan from a wholly majority owned state bank. At a minimum, the Trump Organization didn’t do due diligence; at a maximum, Putin pwned him, big time.