Trump’s Russian Laundromat: Now with the exception of Trumps loyal supporters I don't think anyone surprised to learn it was Trumps inbeddedness with the Russian mob that led to their...

PeterS

Now with the exception of Trumps loyal supporters I don't think anyone surprised to learn it was Trumps inbeddedness with the Russian mob that led to their saving of his bacon from any number of bad business deals. This is outlined in the New Republic and details how Trump Tower and other luxury high-rises were used to clean dirty money, run an international crime syndicate, and propel a failed real estate developer into the White House.

https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicate

In 1984, a Russian émigré named David Bogatin went shopping for apartments in New York City. The 38-year-old had arrived in America seven years before, with just $3 in his pocket. But for a former pilot in the Soviet Army—his specialty had been shooting down Americans over North Vietnam—he had clearly done quite well for himself. Bogatin wasn’t hunting for a place in Brighton Beach, the Brooklyn enclave known as “Little Odessa” for its large population of immigrants from the Soviet Union. Instead, he was fixated on the glitziest apartment building on Fifth Avenue, a gaudy, 58-story edifice with gold-plated fixtures and a pink-marble atrium: Trump Tower.

A monument to celebrity and conspicuous consumption, the tower was home to the likes of Johnny Carson, Steven Spielberg, and Sophia Loren. Its brash, 38-year-old developer was something of a tabloid celebrity himself. Donald Trump was just coming into his own as a serious player in Manhattan real estate, and Trump Tower was the crown jewel of his growing empire. From the day it opened, the building was a hit—all but a few dozen of its 263 units had sold in the first few months. But Bogatin wasn’t deterred by the limited availability or the sky-high prices. The Russian plunked down $6 million to buy not one or two, but five luxury condos. The big check apparently caught the attention of the owner. According to Wayne Barrett, who investigated the deal for the Village Voice, Trump personally attended the closing, along with Bogatin.

If the transaction seemed suspicious—multiple apartments for a single buyer who appeared to have no legitimate way to put his hands on that much money—there may have been a reason. At the time, Russian mobsters were beginning to invest in high-end real estate, which offered an ideal vehicle to launder money from their criminal enterprises. “During the ’80s and ’90s, we in the U.S. government repeatedly saw a pattern by which criminals would use condos and high-rises to launder money,” says Jonathan Winer, a deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement in the Clinton administration. “It didn’t matter that you paid too much, because the real estate values would rise, and it was a way of turning dirty money into clean money. It was done very systematically, and it explained why there are so many high-rises where the units were sold but no one is living in them.” When Trump Tower was built, as David Cay Johnston reports in The Making of Donald Trump, it was only the second high-rise in New York that accepted anonymous buyers.

In 1987, just three years after he attended the closing with Trump, Bogatin pleaded guilty to taking part in a massive gasoline-bootlegging scheme with Russian mobsters. After he fled the country, the government seized his five condos at Trump Tower, saying that he had purchased them to “launder money, to shelter and hide assets.” A Senate investigation into organized crime later revealed that Bogatin was a leading figure in the Russian mob in New York. His family ties, in fact, led straight to the top: His brother ran a $150 million stock scam with none other than Semion Mogilevich, whom the FBI considers the “boss of bosses” of the Russian mafia. At the time, Mogilevich—feared even by his fellow gangsters as “the most powerful mobster in the world”—was expanding his multibillion-dollar international criminal syndicate into America.

liberalhunter Loc: Your mom's house

PeterS wrote:

Now with the exception of Trumps loyal supporters I don't think anyone surprised to learn it was Trumps inbeddedness with the Russian mob that led to their saving of his bacon from any number of bad business deals. This is outlined in the New Republic and details how Trump Tower and other luxury high-rises were used to clean dirty money, run an international crime syndicate, and propel a failed real estate developer into the White House.

https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicate

In 1984, a Russian émigré named David Bogatin went shopping for apartments in New York City. The 38-year-old had arrived in America seven years before, with just $3 in his pocket. But for a former pilot in the Soviet Army—his specialty had been shooting down Americans over North Vietnam—he had clearly done quite well for himself. Bogatin wasn’t hunting for a place in Brighton Beach, the Brooklyn enclave known as “Little Odessa” for its large population of immigrants from the Soviet Union. Instead, he was fixated on the glitziest apartment building on Fifth Avenue, a gaudy, 58-story edifice with gold-plated fixtures and a pink-marble atrium: Trump Tower.

A monument to celebrity and conspicuous consumption, the tower was home to the likes of Johnny Carson, Steven Spielberg, and Sophia Loren. Its brash, 38-year-old developer was something of a tabloid celebrity himself. Donald Trump was just coming into his own as a serious player in Manhattan real estate, and Trump Tower was the crown jewel of his growing empire. From the day it opened, the building was a hit—all but a few dozen of its 263 units had sold in the first few months. But Bogatin wasn’t deterred by the limited availability or the sky-high prices. The Russian plunked down $6 million to buy not one or two, but five luxury condos. The big check apparently caught the attention of the owner. According to Wayne Barrett, who investigated the deal for the Village Voice, Trump personally attended the closing, along with Bogatin.

If the transaction seemed suspicious—multiple apartments for a single buyer who appeared to have no legitimate way to put his hands on that much money—there may have been a reason. At the time, Russian mobsters were beginning to invest in high-end real estate, which offered an ideal vehicle to launder money from their criminal enterprises. “During the ’80s and ’90s, we in the U.S. government repeatedly saw a pattern by which criminals would use condos and high-rises to launder money,” says Jonathan Winer, a deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement in the Clinton administration. “It didn’t matter that you paid too much, because the real estate values would rise, and it was a way of turning dirty money into clean money. It was done very systematically, and it explained why there are so many high-rises where the units were sold but no one is living in them.” When Trump Tower was built, as David Cay Johnston reports in The Making of Donald Trump, it was only the second high-rise in New York that accepted anonymous buyers.

In 1987, just three years after he attended the closing with Trump, Bogatin pleaded guilty to taking part in a massive gasoline-bootlegging scheme with Russian mobsters. After he fled the country, the government seized his five condos at Trump Tower, saying that he had purchased them to “launder money, to shelter and hide assets.” A Senate investigation into organized crime later revealed that Bogatin was a leading figure in the Russian mob in New York. His family ties, in fact, led straight to the top: His brother ran a $150 million stock scam with none other than Semion Mogilevich, whom the FBI considers the “boss of bosses” of the Russian mafia. At the time, Mogilevich—feared even by his fellow gangsters as “the most powerful mobster in the world”—was expanding his multibillion-dollar international criminal syndicate into America.

Now with the exception of Trumps loyal supporters ... (show quote)

Hey, don't tell anybody...all that is supposed to be a secret.

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

liberalhunter wrote:

Hey, don't tell anybody...all that is supposed to be a secret.

These losers are pathetic, but funny.

I think they're on a mission to make Birthers look rational.

shadowman

What else is new? The powers that be, no matter how honest and trustworthy they are, no matter how hypocritical and untrustworthy they turn out to be, are all in bed with one another. Then along comes a guy like Mueller who has
no other agenda, given to him by our laws, than to unearth any and all illegal acts by any powers that be that threaten the laws that we, as a people have set up to govern our democracy, and what is now happening is a great play of the opposites. Any and all means will be used, legal or illegal, out front or subversive; favors traded or called in, whatever works to undermine and blunt the spear that is now penetrating the mask of the executive branch of our government. What people fail to get is that Mueller isn't out 'to get Trump', his job is "to protect the office of the Presidency' 'foreign or domestic' at all costs, and in doing so, that job, carried out to the fullest, preserves and protects the United States of America.

God help us all if this fails to happen!

Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton

PeterS wrote:

Now with the exception of Trumps loyal supporters I don't think anyone surprised to learn it was Trumps inbeddedness with the Russian mob that led to their saving of his bacon from any number of bad business deals. This is outlined in the New Republic and details how Trump Tower and other luxury high-rises were used to clean dirty money, run an international crime syndicate, and propel a failed real estate developer into the White House.

https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicate

In 1984, a Russian émigré named David Bogatin went shopping for apartments in New York City. The 38-year-old had arrived in America seven years before, with just $3 in his pocket. But for a former pilot in the Soviet Army—his specialty had been shooting down Americans over North Vietnam—he had clearly done quite well for himself. Bogatin wasn’t hunting for a place in Brighton Beach, the Brooklyn enclave known as “Little Odessa” for its large population of immigrants from the Soviet Union. Instead, he was fixated on the glitziest apartment building on Fifth Avenue, a gaudy, 58-story edifice with gold-plated fixtures and a pink-marble atrium: Trump Tower.

A monument to celebrity and conspicuous consumption, the tower was home to the likes of Johnny Carson, Steven Spielberg, and Sophia Loren. Its brash, 38-year-old developer was something of a tabloid celebrity himself. Donald Trump was just coming into his own as a serious player in Manhattan real estate, and Trump Tower was the crown jewel of his growing empire. From the day it opened, the building was a hit—all but a few dozen of its 263 units had sold in the first few months. But Bogatin wasn’t deterred by the limited availability or the sky-high prices. The Russian plunked down $6 million to buy not one or two, but five luxury condos. The big check apparently caught the attention of the owner. According to Wayne Barrett, who investigated the deal for the Village Voice, Trump personally attended the closing, along with Bogatin.

If the transaction seemed suspicious—multiple apartments for a single buyer who appeared to have no legitimate way to put his hands on that much money—there may have been a reason. At the time, Russian mobsters were beginning to invest in high-end real estate, which offered an ideal vehicle to launder money from their criminal enterprises. “During the ’80s and ’90s, we in the U.S. government repeatedly saw a pattern by which criminals would use condos and high-rises to launder money,” says Jonathan Winer, a deputy assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement in the Clinton administration. “It didn’t matter that you paid too much, because the real estate values would rise, and it was a way of turning dirty money into clean money. It was done very systematically, and it explained why there are so many high-rises where the units were sold but no one is living in them.” When Trump Tower was built, as David Cay Johnston reports in The Making of Donald Trump, it was only the second high-rise in New York that accepted anonymous buyers.

In 1987, just three years after he attended the closing with Trump, Bogatin pleaded guilty to taking part in a massive gasoline-bootlegging scheme with Russian mobsters. After he fled the country, the government seized his five condos at Trump Tower, saying that he had purchased them to “launder money, to shelter and hide assets.” A Senate investigation into organized crime later revealed that Bogatin was a leading figure in the Russian mob in New York. His family ties, in fact, led straight to the top: His brother ran a $150 million stock scam with none other than Semion Mogilevich, whom the FBI considers the “boss of bosses” of the Russian mafia. At the time, Mogilevich—feared even by his fellow gangsters as “the most powerful mobster in the world”—was expanding his multibillion-dollar international criminal syndicate into America.

Now with the exception of Trumps loyal supporters ... (show quote)

I sense you're offering this as some kind of 'proof' of some wrongdoing by President Trump, but I'm not able to see either the wrongdoing or the proof. All I see is a story whereby a New York Real Estate Developer sold some property to a Russian ex-pat for $6million in 1984.

Ohhh! This is your 'collusion' meme! You're saying it all goes back to the sale of some real estate to a Russian, some 33 years ago!

Got it. Nice try, bozo.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

liberalhunter wrote:

Hey, don't tell anybody...all that is supposed to be a secret.

Yea, funny how it's been in the open for decades. Too bad he didn't provide full disclosure of published data.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

Larry the Legend wrote:

I sense you're offering this as some kind of 'proof' of some wrongdoing by President Trump, but I'm not able to see either the wrongdoing or the proof. All I see is a story whereby a New York Real Estate Developer sold some property to a Russian ex-pat for $6million in 1984.

Ohhh! This is your 'collusion' meme! You're saying it all goes back to the sale of some real estate to a Russian, some 33 years ago!

Got it. Nice try, bozo.

It's a business arrangement, that entangled his businesses with Russians: No?

If Bill can't give speeches in Russia, and that isn't entanglement, you're right: it's just business.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

Super Dave wrote:

These losers are pathetic, but funny.

I think they're on a mission to make Birthers look rational.

You're definitely on a mission to make Birthers look rational, that's why you said it, LOL.

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

Larry the Legend wrote:

I sense you're offering this as some kind of 'proof' of some wrongdoing by President Trump, but I'm not able to see either the wrongdoing or the proof. All I see is a story whereby a New York Real Estate Developer sold some property to a Russian ex-pat for $6million in 1984.

Ohhh! This is your 'collusion' meme! You're saying it all goes back to the sale of some real estate to a Russian, some 33 years ago!

Got it. Nice try, bozo.

It was all part of his diabolical plot to run for POTUS against a corrupt, broken down old hag in the distant future.

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

Dummy Boy wrote:

You're definitely on a mission to make Birthers look rational, that's why you said it, LOL.

If you mean by bringing out leftists to show their true colors, then you have a point.

liberalhunter Loc: Your mom's house

Super Dave wrote:

These losers are pathetic, but funny.

I think they're on a mission to make Birthers look rational.

Yep, but what would you expect from a party made up from a mish mash of fringe loonies? Exactly what we are getting.........they make for a great sitcom.

liberalhunter Loc: Your mom's house

Dummy Boy wrote:

Yea, funny how it's been in the open for decades. Too bad he didn't provide full disclosure of published data.

Yea....work on your sense of humor, that way I don't have to dumb it down next time.....but I will if you need me to, just ask.

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

Super Dave wrote:

If you mean by bringing out leftists to show their true colors, then you have a point.

...since when do leftists claim to be birthers?

Dummy Boy Loc: Michigan

liberalhunter wrote:

Yea....work on your sense of humor, that way I don't have to dumb it down next time.....but I will if you need me to, just ask.

...you have no clue, that's the humorous part. nudge, nudge.

liberalhunter Loc: Your mom's house

Dummy Boy wrote:

...since when do leftists claim to be birthers?

When do righties! Birther is just another label invented by the left, they are all about labeling anyone that disagrees with them.