A British businessman suspected by American justice of helping Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska escape sanctions has been arrested and released on Tuesday, October 11, the UK’s Organized Crime Agency (NEC) said. With.
“Following an extradition request from the United States,” Graham Bonham-Carter, who is suspected of helping Oleg Deripaska conceal ownership of several properties, was tried in London on Tuesday before being conditionally released, according to a press release by the British agency.
In the sights of the United States
In a statement, the US Justice Department said Washington would seek his extradition in connection with 2018 sanctions against Deripaska, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and founder of aluminum giant Rusal. Graham Bonham-Carter, 62, is suspected of being linked to the 52-year-old oligarch, who is sanctioned in both the US and UK, via properties in both countries, ownership of which is hidden thanks to companies registered with British Virgin Islands or other overseas territories.
According to the NCA, the British businessman was charged in the United States with violating the sanctions law in connection with the situation in Ukraine, among other things. Two Deripaska properties in London are included in the assets frozen by the sanctions: a mansion and an office in upscale neighborhoods, which are valued at a combined total of more than £50m (more than €56m), according to the NEC. Oleg Deripaska was indicted by American courts at the end of September along with his girlfriend and two other people for preparing a plan to obtain American citizenship for his two children in violation of the sanctions imposed by the United States.