A company controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Derispaska, who is alleged to have ties to organized crime, is suing Paul Manafort and Rick Gates for more than $25Million in damages over a failed business deal, and Derispaska cites their recent indictments as proof of their fraudulent practices. NBC News:
Deripaska’s company says Manafort and Gates — who are charged with conspiracy and money laundering in the federal case — bilked his company by taking $1.1 million in capital and paying it to themselves.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges that Manafort and Gates made false statements in depositions about the companies and failed to produce documents.
The business agreement between Manafort and Deripaska goes back more than a decade, and the lawsuit is just the latest chapter in a nearly seven-year dispute.
Deripaska had been repeatedly denied a visa to enter the United States over his alleged ties to organized crime, current and former officials tell NBC News. However, several officials tell NBC News he now has been given diplomatic status by the Russian government, allowing him to enter the U.S. with immunity.
It would appear that the business deal Derispaska is suing over is not the only one with which he’s unhappy. Another company controlled by Deripaska alleged it invested $18.9 million in 2008 in a firm in which Manafort had an interest, Pericles Emerging Markets, to acquire another company called Black Sea Cable, in the Cayman Islands. Paul Manafort said in 2016 that the matter was closed but it appears that there’s some question as to the whereabouts of the money.