Russia's richest woman Yelena Baturina has refused to discuss her alleged payment of $3.5 million to Joe Biden's son Hunter. But her...
Russia's richest woman Yelena Baturina has refused to discuss her alleged payment of $3.5 million to Joe Biden's son Hunter.
But her brother, Viktor Baturin, 63, has told the money was 'a payment to enter the American market.'
Joe Biden was the vice president when Baturina wired the money in a series of payments to a bank account held by Hunter's investment firm Rosemont Seneca Thornton in 2014, according to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The following year, she opened up an office in the US to oversee her investments in America. In 2016, she launched her first development project, investing $10 million in commercial buildings next to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The ultra-wealthy 57-year-old has long been dogged by corruption allegations, stemming from when her late husband, who was the mayor of Moscow, awarded her with lucrative government business contracts, helping her grow the business.
The suspicion the money was given to Hunter in order to influence Joe has been a battle cry of corruption for Republicans, as it would be considered illegal to try to influence a public official into creating policies that would favor Hunter's interests.
President Trump referenced the alleged payment during the first presidential debate, but Joe Biden flatly denied his 50-year-old son had received the Russian's money.
Baturina, whose estimated fortune is around $1.3 billion, told DailyMail.com she was 'not interested' in explaining an alleged consultancy fee. Hunter's lawyer denied he received $3.5 million from Baturina, claiming he wasn't a co-founder of the investment firm.
But now, in a bizarre twist, her brother Viktor claimed 'it was a payment to enter the American market' while also suggesting she may have been 'set up' into making a payment.
Russia's richest woman Yelena Baturina has refused to discuss her alleged payment of $3.5 million to Joe Biden's son Hunter, as her brother claimed she may have been 'set up'
Last month, the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said Baturina wired the money in a series of payments to a bank account held by Hunter's investment firm Rosemont Seneca Thornton in 2014
Baturina is the widow of former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov (pictured together), who died in 2019 and was Mayor between 1992 and 2010. He was fired by Russia's then president Dmitry Medvedev over corruption allegations, which were never proven in court prior to his death last year
Baturina said in a statement in 2016 about her new US business activities: 'We've managed to make a number of investments at a very good moment - in the situation when the market dropped after 2008.
'Today the market has without a doubt fully recovered, and the forecast for the future is very good – the rental sector is particularly stable.
'In this regard, we plan to expand our operations, and are considering the acquisition of a number of similar projects. '
Baturina and her brother have long had an unpredictable business and personal relationship. Both were involved from the start in her company, a plastics turned construction firm INTECO, the basis of her fortune.
Her brother Viktor Baturina, 63, claimed 'it was a payment to enter the American market' while also suggesting she may have been 'set up' into making a payment
The businessman said: 'Yelena, due to her nature, is not involved in anything on her own.
'Some proposals are prepared for her, she considers them and says - 'yes, we'll do it'.
'As I understand it, the people around her offered her a set of steps for entering the American market.
'They proposed this scheme….
'Of course, I'm not surprised, there were no special goals.
'It was a pure business, her subordinates proposed a scheme to her and she then had no option but to take responsibility.
'I believe they explained to her that it was a payment to enter the American market.'
In a separate interview, he said: 'Her subordinates probably set her up.'
Baturina is the widow of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, who died in 2019 and was mayor between 1992 and 2010. The two met in 1987 while working on Moscow's council committees before marrying in 1991.
Much of Baturina's fortune was built on her plastics-turned-construction firm Inteco, which dominated the construction business in Moscow - thanks in part to lucrative government contracts granted while her husband was mayor.
There was outcry in 1995 when her firm was awarded a contract with Moscow to build seats for the 81,000-person Luzhniki Stadium, the city's largest stadium. Critics accused Luzhkov of corruption by awarding the contract to his wife.
Baturina's firm later shifted into construction and was credited with receiving up to 20 percent of Moscow's new construction contracts.
Luzhkov was fired in 2010 by Russia's then president Dmitry Medvedev over corruption allegations, which were never proven in court prior to his death.
Much of Baturina's fortune was built on her plastics-turned-construction firm Inteco, which dominated the construction business in Moscow - thanks in part to lucrative government contracts granted while her husband was mayor. Pictured: Baturina and Luzhkov in 2016
Luzhkov denied claims of wrongdoing or corruption, saying he was falsely accused because he refused to support Medvedev. Still, because of the 'political difficulties', Baturina moved herself and her two daughters to London in 2011. Pictured: Baturina with her two daughters at Luzhkov's funeral in 2019
Luzhkov denied claims of wrongdoing or corruption, saying he was falsely accused because he refused to support Medvedev.
Still, because of the 'political difficulties', Baturina moved herself and her two daughters to London in 2011.
Since moving to England, Baturina still remained in the public eye, most recently last year when she suddenly quit from her trustee position for the Mayor's Fund for London, which pays for education programs in deprived areas of the city.
She resigned after an investigation revealed a board member at her own foundation was being prosecuted for alleged money laundering and tax crimes in Spain. The alleged crimes were not in relation to his work at her charity.
It was only last month when Baturina's connection to Hunter Biden came to light in the recent GOP report from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The report stated the transactions occurred in February 2014 - while Joe Biden was still vice president.
It quickly drew outcry from some Republicans, although the report doesn't indicate there was anything illegal about the transaction.
Critics have long claimed Hunter 'cashed in on Joe Biden's vice presidency' by obtaining high-paying positions, such as his board position with Ukraine energy company Bursima. He got the job in April of 2014 and stepped down in 2019.
The report states: 'Hunter Biden's position on Burisma's board was problematic and did interfere in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine.'
Still, the findings did not show that Hunter's dealings ever influenced Joe Biden or impacted the White House's policy.
President Trump referenced the alleged payment during the first presidential debate on Tuesday, but Joe Biden flatly denied his 50-year-old son had received the Russian's money
The GOP report also states that between May 6, 2015 and December 8, 2015, Baturina sent 11 wires in the amount of $391,968.21 to a bank account belonging to BAK USA LLC, a technology startup based in Buffalo, New York. The transactions all listed 'Loan Agreement' in the payment details section.
Nine of the 11 transactions, totaling $241,797.14 were first sent from Baturina's accounts to a Rosemont Seneca Thornton bank account, which then transferred to the money to BAK USA, according to the report.
BAK USA, which proposed to manufacture computer tablets in partnership with unnamed Chinese partners, was repeatedly touted by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as a success story in his tax-break scheme to lure startups.
The company filed for bankruptcy liquidation in 2019 with $39.4 million in debts and just $147,000 in assets. It's unclear what connection Hunter Biden or his firm had to the now-defunct company.
Biden's campaign immediately panned the report, released six weeks before the election, as an effort by an ally of President Donald Trump's to damage his election opponent.
The campaign said the investigation was founded on 'a long-disproven, hardcore rightwing conspiracy theory' and, even before the report was released, issued a detailed statement aiming to rebut point-by-point allegations that it said had long been debunked by media organizations as well as by U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
Democrats have accused Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, the Homeland Security chair, of a politically motivated initiative at a time when they say the committee should be focused on the pandemic response and other, less partisan issues.
Johnson has acknowledged in interviews that he hoped to complete the report before the election, telling The Associated Press that the 'American people deserve the truth' about his probe.
Baturina is the widow of former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, who died in 2019 and was Mayor between 1992 and 2010. Pictured: Vladimir Putin with Yelena Baturina at her husband's funeral in December 2019
As Baturina refuses to answer comments about the payment, she is nowhere to be seen at her palatial five story multi-million dollar home in London. Her luxury home is located in London's Kensington area which is a few minutes walk from the palace home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
But he has also been on the defensive over Democratic accusations that his investigation was serving to amplify Russian disinformation. He has denied receiving information from Andrii Derkach, the Ukrainian lawmaker singled out by intelligence officials.
Baturina, who has refused to answer questions about the payment, has not bee seenn at her palatial five story multi-million dollar home in London's Kensington area, a few minutes walk from the palace home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The home, which has animal sculptures at the front and is in a street lined with Porsches, Mercedes, Rolls Royces and other high end cars, had the blinds drawn on its 13 street facing windows.
The property was bought in 2013 through a company in Gibraltar and was obtained through a mortgage provided by a private bank based in the UK, the Channel Islands and Gibralter.
Houses in the area can be bought for around $12 million and the late Hollywood film director Michael Winner used to live nearby.
A security official said: 'I have read these stories about Hunter Biden but she is not here to talk to you.'
Her daughters Olga, 26 and Elena Luzhiova, 28, have also been registered at the property.
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