Oligarch Kenes Rakishev Named In New Trump Election Interference Case

Sater claims that the marketing campaign in opposition to himself and Trump was coordinated by Kenes Rakishev and Karim Massimov, who was arrested for treason by the Kazakh authorities in January.

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Kenes Rakishev, one particular of Kazakhstan’s maximum-profile businessmen, has been named in an explosive new authorized situation that alleges foreign interference in the 2016 US Presidential election.

Rakishev is accused of acting as a “henchman” and “wallet” for Kazakhstan’s former prime minister Karim Massimov in a plot to undermine Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign.

The allegations are contained in a criticism introduced by Felix Sater, a previous senior advisor to President Trump and a financier who helped bankroll the Trump Soho tower.

Sater is suing BTA Bank, which is owned by Rakishev, the City of Almaty in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Federal government and a non-public investigation agency identified as Arcanum.

According to the lawsuit, which was submitted in the Southern District of New York federal court docket, Sater was employed by the defendants to aid recover billions of dollars stolen from BTA Bank by its prior owner Mukhtar Ablyazov.

Nonetheless, Sater alleges that this arrangement was just a address to cover the Kazakhs’ correct intent, which was to dig dust on Sater and then use it to damage Trump’s election bid.

The lawsuit states: “Arcanum and the Kazakh Parties, underneath the guise of working together with Sater pursuant to a confidential aid arrangement signed in June 2015 for Sater to aid get better property belonging to fugitive Kazakh oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov and his associates, conspired to leak phony and defamatory info about Sater to media retailers together with ABC News. This was section of a concerted effort and hard work to falsely (and absurdly) portray Sater, a longtime organization companion of Donald Trump, as a Russian agent and Kremlin stooge.”

Sater was a important witness in Distinctive Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. A leaked 2015 e-mail composed by Sater implied that he would organize for Vladimir Putin to aid Trump’s election bid as part of a scheme to develop a Trump tower in Moscow.

Sater statements that instead than becoming a stooge for the Kremlin, his get the job done for US intelligence and regulation enforcement companies intended that the Russians preferred to execute him for treason.

The lawsuit states: “Felix Sater is a famous figure in the U.S. Intelligence Neighborhood. He is known for jeopardizing his life conducting espionage functions in opposition to North Korea, Taliban- controlled Afghanistan, al Qaeda, Russia and Russian hacking networks, including functions he executed on the floor in Russia and Afghanistan.”

Sater statements that the marketing campaign in opposition to himself and Trump was coordinated by Kenes Rakishev and Karim Massimov, who was arrested for treason by the Kazakh authorities in January.

“Massimov and Rakishev were being actively searching for affect with American politicians,” the lawsuit states. “In 2016, they thought that they would be rewarded for assisting the Hillary Clinton marketing campaign (who was regarded as certain to win the election) by smearing Sater and Trump. Massimov and Rakishev’s efforts to curry favor with well known American politicians provided lavishing revenue on Hunter Biden, who termed Rakishev a ‘close friend’.” 

According to a US Senate investigation, Rakishev paid out $142,300 to a firm operate by a near buddy of Hunter Biden. Rakishev also invested in promotions released by Biden.

The lawsuit states: “Rakishev is reputed to have raped underage women in Russia and structured “no retains barred” combating contests involving eight-12 months-previous youngsters. The Russian authorities refused to investigate these crimes due to the fact Rakishev was under Massimov’s security and also mainly because Rakishev’s father-in-regulation (Imangali Tasmagambetov), Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Russia, intervened to cease the investigation.”

Rakishev has also been connected to figures associated in a January uprising in Kazakhstan and is reportedly near friends with Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of the Chechnya who has been accused of human legal rights abuses.

Sater has introduced his lawsuit as a counterclaim to a 2019 criticism submitted by BTA Bank and the Kazakh authorities. That claim alleges that Sater stole income from BTA.

Matthew Schwartz, a partner at the regulation organization Boies Schiller Flexner and counsel for BTA Bank and the Metropolis of Almaty, said: “Felix Sater’s submitting is practically nothing more than conspiracy theories and desperation dressed up like a lawsuit. We are self-assured that the court docket will see by means of his techniques.”