shady Ukrainian Oligarch

July 16, 2018

Here’s what Debbie Mucarsel-Powell woke up to this morning: “Shady Oligarch’s Firm Paid Dem Candidate’s Husband $700,000”

The Daily Beast reports that Debbie’s husband is on retainer as an attorney for Ukrainian Oligarch Ihor Kolominsky’s companies. The Daily Beast also reports that the shady oligarch “has been accused of sponsoring contract killings.” Well then! The Mucarsel-Powell campaign is off to a great start this week.

Via The Daily Beast:

“Now, there’s another apparent connection between the Kolomoisky and American politics. A number of businesses linked to the oligarch have hired the attorney Robert Powell, the husband of Democratic House of Representatives candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Just one of those firms paid Powell at least $700,000 over two years, according to public records.

“The connections worry longtime Ukraine watchers. Anders Aslund, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who focuses on Russia and Ukraine, said the link is concerning, citing accusations that Kolomoisky has been involved in billion-dollar criminal schemes and contract killings. He called the ties “highly suspicious.”

…

“Powell’s LinkedIn page lists him as general counsel of a company called Georgian American Alloys from January of 2008 through December 2017. Georgian American Alloys is based in Miami, Florida, according to Bloomberg. An archived page from the company’s website says Powell became its chief legal officer when it was founded in 2012. Seth Kaplan, who heads International Economic Research LLC, provided testimony to the United States International Trade Court on Feb. 11, 2016 that Kolomoisky and his longtime associate Gennady Bogolyubov control Georgian American Alloys. LDaily, a Ukrainian law news site, made the same characterization in an article published on Jan. 20, 2016.

“Powell was also general counsel for Optima Acquisitions LLC, according to British court filings from Jan. 31, 2014. Delaware bankruptcy filings indicate that Kolomoisky owns one third of Optima Acquisitions. According to the Kyiv Post, Kolomoisky and Bogolyubov set up the company in 2008 to manage their investments in the U.S.”