Below is the final installment in my posts from today about Buzzfeed News reports that link back to the FinCEN official currently being prosecuted by the DOJ for (allegedly) leaking confidential financial records to a reporter.
It's unclear which specific Buzzfeed News reporter received the leaked data but it has been very obvious they had access to confidential documents only obtainable by someone with the necessary access at the Treasury FinCEN department.
For reference: Post #1 (includes Bloomberg report from yesterday on the alleged leaker pleading not guilty and the first of a number of Buzzfeed News reports that can be traced back to those leaks)
It includes strong concerns amongst FinCEN officials that certain individuals at the Treasury were engaging in very suspicious communications with Russians via an unsecure backchannel that could compromise Treasury systems. It is a very lengthy report, one I would recommend reading. The post contains a number of excerpts.
https://niketalk.com/threads/official-political-discussion-thread.509493/page-5920#post-31232395
For reference: Post #2 (includes Buzzfeed News report on concerns amongst FinCEN officials that the Treasury was withholding documents from congressional committees investigating Russian interference. There were also concerns that the Treasury sought to obstruct the congressional inquiries.
https://niketalk.com/threads/official-political-discussion-thread.509493/page-5920#post-31232522
From what I can tell this is the final report that links back to the leaked documents. It details a number of suspicious transactions around the Trump Tower meeting. Like the others, this is a pretty extensive report and thus I have outlined some excerpts I found noteworthy.
There was one other report that was clearly based off the leaked documents, and also referenced in the prosecution of that FinCEN official, about numerous SARs related to Manafort's financial activities but I didn't find it as interesting.
Link to that Manafort report:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...-bank-closed-manafort-linked-accounts-in-2016
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...ower-meeting-suspicious-transactions-agalarov
A Series Of Suspicious Money Transfers Followed The Trump Tower Meeting
Investigators are focused on two bursts of banking activity — one shortly after the June 2016 meeting, the other immediately after the presidential election.
The June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower has become one of the most famous gatherings in American political history: a flashpoint for allegations of collusion, the subject of shifting explanations by the president and his son, countless hair-on-fire tweets, and boundless speculation by the press.
But secret documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News reveal a previously undisclosed aspect of the meeting: a complex web of financial transactions among some of the planners and participants who moved money from Russia and Switzerland to the British Virgin Islands, Bangkok, and a small office park in New Jersey.
Excerpts:
The first round of suspicious banking activity, flagged as suspicious by the bank.
The second round of suspicious banking activity, also flagged as suspicious by the bank.
Note that the account had been virtually dormand since the summer of 2015, yet it suddenly sent money to a longtime business associate of the Agalarovs, who was their representative at the Trump Tower meeting.
A bit more details on the June 20 Agalarov transactions that were flagged as suspicious by the bank:
More details on the second string of transactions, starting 13 days after Trump's election, that were also flagged as suspicious by the bank.
19 separate wire transfers were made, yet the checking account had never received a Russian wire transfer prior to that activity.
Aside from some standard transactions, the checking account also quickly transfered funds to another participant at the Trump Tower meeting.
On Nov. 21, 2016, Emin Agalarov’s checking account received $165,000 from an account based in Russia belonging to his family. The following day, the account sent $107,000 to Corsy International, a company run by Kaveladze, the longtime Agalarov business associate who attended the Trump Tower meeting.
Bankers flagged that transaction as suspicious for a number of reasons.
#1: Bankers found it suspicious that the money was routed from Russia through Agalarov's New Jersey account and then to Kaveladze, despite him being an employee of the Agalarov's construction and real estate company Crocus Group.
#2: Kaveladze had previously been investigated in a $1.4 billion money laundering scheme, though he was never charged with a crime.
#3: Bankers' suspicions were further raised by the address of Kaveladze's Corsy International, which received the $107k from the Agalarov New Jersey account.
In July 2017, another flurry of financial activity was flagged as suspicious. This time it involved Rob Goldstone, the point of contact between Trump Jr and the Agalarovs in setting up the Trump Tower meeting.
Remember that Kaveladze is an employee of the Agalarovs' Crocus Group construction and real estate empire. Goldstone is Emin Agalarov's publicist.
As mentioned earlier, Corsy International is a company controlled by Kaveladze and its transactions with the Agalarov New Jersey account were also flagged as suspicious by the bank.
Likewise, these transactions between the companies of Kaveladze and Goldstone, both involved in the Trump Tower meeting, were also flagged in a SAR (Suspicious Activity Report) by the bank.
After the NYT broke the news of the Trump Tower meeting, Goldstone traveled to Bangkok.
Once again, bank officials flagged Goldstone's transactions there as suspicious.