Felix Henry Sater / setr / (born Felix Mikhailovich Sheferovsky; [4] [5] Russian: ; March 2, 1966) is a Russian-American mobster, convicted felon, [6] real estate developer and former managing director of Bayrock Group LLC, [7] a real estate conglomerate based out of New York City. Update: Sater told Talking Points Memo he knew Cohen through Cohen's wife, Laura . The family emigrated to Israel when Felix was 8 years old to avoid religious persecution in the Soviet Union, and eventually came to the United States, living in Baltimore, Maryland before settling in Brighton Beach, New York in 1974. Bob Dreyfuss, Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it, wrote Sater. slotId: "thenation_article_indent", document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Colorful former Trump business associate Felix Sater who will testify before two congressional panels this week about Trump and Russia is facing more legal woes after his wife of 25 years, Viktoria, slapped him with divorce papers. . Tim OBrien, author of a biography of Trump, wrote about Sater in an article titled Lean, Mean Trump-Russia Machine. He was born in 1966 in the Soviet Union, and he and his family moved to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York, when he was just 8. The ex-NYPD chief was convicted in part because of $165,000 in free renovations that he received from contractor Frank DiTommaso, a construction executive whose company Interstate allegedly had mob connections, according to the New York Times. Portions of the information related to Italian and Russian mob operations and placed the safety of Mr. Ray and his family at risk.. Rays alleged victim at the heart of the sex-trafficking claim, Claudia Drury, told a jury that he forced her into prostitution and took $2.5 million of her earnings. Sitemap, Your California Privacy Rights wid: "428986", He attended Pace University and later dropped out to work on Wall Street. His birth sign is Pisces. . inline_cta_font_color_258356 = '#000000'; d: "YWxsc3RhcmJpby5jb20=", Yet in 1993, Sater and several partners took over a securities firm called White Rock Partners, later called State Street Capital Markets, which portrayed itself as a legitimate brokerage firm but, in fact, ran a criminal enterprise involving stock fraud, money laundering, and a so-called pump and dump scheme that involved conspiring to inflate the apparent value of near-worthless stocks, sell them off to unsuspecting investors, and cash in. if( inline_cta_2_button_text_258356 !='' ){ cta_1_check_258356 = true; The building is a $450 million, 46-story, 391-unit hotel condominium located at 246 Spring Street in SoHo, New York City. Cohen will soon go to prison for lying to Congress about it, and Sater will testify publicly Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee then behind closed doors with the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. tn_pos: 'rectangle_4', magazine_text_258356 = '
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'; Stock Scam 1993-1996. [emailprotected], Law&Crime's managing editor Adam Klasfeld has spent more than a decade on the legal beat. [33], Felix Sater was a managing director of Bayrock Group LLC, as well as a senior advisor to Donald Trump and The Trump Organization when construction of the Trump SoHo began in 2006. magazine_button_bg_color_258356 = '#dd3333'; [52] In 2010, Sater was provided business cards describing himself as "Senior Advisor to Donald Trump" with an email address at TrumpOrg.com. This story has been shared 75,075 times. } Sater, 53, went to Russia to work with Mirax real estate mogul Sergei Polonsky in 2008, and returned to the US in 2010. var inline_cta_font_color_258356 = ''; [8] The letter, also signed by Russian investor Andrei Rozov, was forwarded to Cohen by Sater. Home. Also, FBI reported his conviction of extorting money from local restaurants, grocery stores, and medical clinic. He said that he helped hunt down Osama bin Laden and weaken mob-operated money laundering networks, according to news reporting and public records. Born in Russia to a mafia-boss father, Sater moved to Long Island as a boy and grew up surrounded by organized crime. } This project was facilitated by Michael Cohen, then an attorney for the Trump Organization, and from January 2016 to May 2017 Trump's personal attorney. Well, Felix started his career in the field of real estate serving as the senior advisor to Chairman Fettah Tamince of Rixos Otelleri, a hotel, and resort company. At . He has not yet revealed other source of incomes, cars, properties. var magazine_button_bg_color_258356 = ''; Besides, Felix lives a rich lifestyle along with his family and children in a beautiful house resides in New York, the United States. His information, it seems didnt pan outbut after 9/11, Sater did cooperate in some fashion with the US government. Years before he became a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into links between Donald Trump and Russia, former Trump business associate Felix Sater really was a globetrotting secret agent who risked his life to help the U.S. government "combat terrorists and rogue states," according to a newly unsealed court document. He is a convicted felon who has been accused of dealings with Russian and American organized crime. Trump has long gotten heat for his association with Felix Sater, a managing director at a firm called Bayrock Group, which worked with the eventual president on potential projects in . You can read our Privacy Policy here. if( inline_cta_2_url_258356 !='' ){ Mr. In 1998, Sater pleaded guilty to his involvement in a $40 million stock fraud scheme orchestrated by the Russian Mafia,[9][10] and became an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and federal prosecutors, assisting with organized crime investigations. [12] On June 21, 2019, Sater was issued a subpoena by the House Intelligence Committee after he refused a request to testify voluntarily. Sater Regency Capital 1998; Other counts against Raysuch as sex trafficking, money laundering, and extortionare also commonly charged against criminal rackets. Bob DreyfussBobDreyfuss, a Nation contributing editor, is an independent investigative journalist who specializes in politics and national security. In her confirmation hearing to serve as US Attorney General under President Obama, Lynch confirmed that Sater did in fact work with the FBI and other agenciespresumably the CIAin providing information crucial to national security. Where and how Sater gathered the information that he provided, whether or not it involved contacts with the Russian FSB (the successor to the KGB) and GRU, and whether those agencies themselves established a covert connection with Sater is something that both Mueller and the US intelligence community ought to be looking at today, of course. Felix Sater is a Russian-born dealmaker who served as managing director for Bayrock Group, a real estate development firm with an office two floors down from The Trump Organization in Trump Tower. tn_keyword: ['criminal-r', 'donald-tru', 'ivanka-tru', 'russia', 'trump-and-', 'us-intelli', 'vladimir-p'], The project was a collaboration between The Trump Organization, Bayrock Group LLC and Tamir Sapir. var params = inline_cta_2_text_258356 = 'Support our work with a digital subscription.
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'; [2][9][29] In 1998, Sater was convicted of fraud in connection to a $40 million penny stock pump and dump scheme conducted by the Russian Mafia[9][10] involving his company White Rock Partners. } Sater Went to Prison for Stabbing a Broker With a Martini Glass Stem in the Face in 1991. And, though Trump has denied that he has any business interests in Russia, even as he was gearing up for the Republican presidential primary race, Cohen and Sater were deep into previously undisclosed talks with Russian partners about constructing a Trump-branded hotel, according to The Washington Post. . She has hired power divorce attorney Bernard Clair, whose clients include Judith Giuliani, currently in a difficult divorce with Trumps attorney Rudy. ), Over the next several years Arif and Sater, via Bayrock, started or collaborated with Trump on a series of hotel and resort projects in Fort Lauderdale, Phoenix, and elsewhere. var inline_cta_2_text_258356 = ''; Around 2005, Sater identified a location for a Trump Tower in the Russian capital, and he says that he personally escorted Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump around Moscow back thenan assertion that neither of the Trumps have denied. Former President Trump associate Felix Sater must pay $14,000 a month in temporary alimony to his estranged wife, a judge ruled Thursday after finding he had been splashing cash on. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. { He is perhaps most infamous for a 1991 bar fight gone . Felix Sater was born as Felix Mikhailovich Sheferovsky on 2 March 1966, in Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR. [16][15], His wife, Viktoria, is the founder and owner of a granola health food company. And The New York Times reported him as saying, If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldnt know what he looked like. As late as 2015, when asked about Sater, Trump hemmed and hawed. Felix Henry Sater (born Felix Mikhailovich Sheferovsky; 1 2 ru: ; Following his prosecution in a Russian mafia-linked fraud scheme, Sater became a prolific government cooperator. According to the Times, the Artemenko plandelivered to Sater and Cohen, and then to Michael Flynn, the short-lived White House national security adviser who was forced to resign in Februaryinvolved using unflattering or compromising information (kompromat) to help oust Poroshenko and then winning the support of a new Ukrainian government for a 50- to 100-year lease of Crimea to Russiawhich in 2014 occupied and annexed Crimea, which for many decades had been part of Ukraine. Trump signed a nonbinding "letter of intent" dated October 13, 2015, to proceed with the project. Felix Sater a channel to Russia, convicted felon, and associate of Donald Trump provides the perfect window into Trump's suspect business practices and network. In so doing, for protection Sater drew on the assistance of his fathers friends in the Genovese crime family. }); I mean, Ive seen him a couple of times; I have met him, Trump said, in a deposition in a court case involving Sater in 2013. For more than 10 years, he worked with prosecutors from my office, the United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York and law enforcement agents from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, providing information crucial to national security and the conviction of over 20 individuals, including those responsible for committing massive financial fraud and members of La Cosa Nostra.. 57,237, This story has been shared 28,331 times. (Screenshot from CBS New York) Have a tip we should know? Felix Sater - the Trump Organization contact who pushed for a Moscow development project and Mueller investigation witness - was a decade ago a federal government informant to "a depth and. He stands at a good height. Historical Amnesia About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy. inline_cta_2_url_258356 = 'https://subscriptions.thenation.com/loading.do?omedasite=Nation_Gift'; tn_pos: 'rectangle_1', var magazine_button_url_258356 = ''; Felix Sater speaks at the Chabad of Port Washington in Port Washington, New York, in 2014. In December 2017, the Trump SoHo was renamed to The Dominick. if( magazine_button_text_258356 !='' ){ id: "beb5f82f-dce3-49e6-a836-cf24eb78a6f6", [36], In late January 2017, Sater met with Ukrainian politician Andrey Artemenko and Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, at the Loews Regency in Manhattan to discuss a plan to lift sanctions against Russia. The scheme operated through a Gambino soldier Edward Garafola, but the indictment lists an assortment of other alleged wiseguys, including Frank Coppa, Sr., a Bonanno family captain; Ernest Montevecchi, a Genovese soldier; Daniel Persico, a Colombo family associate; and Eugene Lombardo, a Bonanno family associate, according to the indictment. jQuery("#inline_cta_2_btn_258356 a").attr("href",inline_cta_2_url_258356); His birth sign is Pisces. [15][16] Boland also stated that Sater will remain under subpoena until he cooperates with this request. [39][40][41][42][43] In 1991, Sater got into an argument with a commodities broker at the El Rio Grande restaurant and bar in Midtown Manhattan. var is_user_logged_in = getCookie('SESSname'); if( is_user_logged_in != null ){ . Brooke Blurton Bio, Age, Height, Weight, Net Worth, Boyfriend & Dating, Rahm Emanuel Bio, Salary, Net Worth, Married, Wife & Children, Shane Deary Bio, Wiki, Net Worth, Wedding & Wife, Caleb Lee Hutchinson Age, Weight, Net Worth & Girlfriend. However, his actual height and weight are yet to be revealed. }else{ Saters links to Trump in recent years are obscure. In his interview with New York magazine, he hinted ominously about the near future. magazine_button_url_258356 = 'https://www.thenation.com/email-signup-module-donate/'; The central Asian country was once part of the Soviet Union. }else{ At a hearing last month, Drager scolded Felix for not yet having filed his 2018 taxes. inline_cta_2_bg_color_258356 = '#cc0e0e'; Drager also ordered Felix to pay $100,000 of Viktorias legal fees and $15,000 for her medical bills. Drager acknowledged the 53-year-old may have some financial troubles due to the fact that he was involved in an investigation. He is married to his beautiful wife Viktoria Sater. He played a major role throughout the process of the building's construction, and remained managing director of Bayrock Group when the Trump SoHo project was completed in 2010. [60] He was then rescheduled to give closed-door testimony on June 21, 2019. About the only thing the two seem to have in common is that they are both Jewish and roughly the same age. Mikhail Sheferovsky (also known as Michael Sheferofsky) states that the family name was Saterov at some point (). Last January The New York Times reported, During a trip in 2006, Mr. Sater and two of Mr. Trumps children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, stayed at the historic Hotel National Moscow opposite the Kremlin, connecting with potential partners over the course of several days., After the financial crisis of 2008, Bayrock ran into difficulty, and Sater went out on his own. inline_cta_2_button_text_258356 = ''; tips@lawandcrime.com Filed Under: But on August 28, Sater made the front pages of the Times and The Washington Post, thanks to leaked copies of e-mails that he sent in late 2015 and early 2016 to Cohen, concerning Saters efforts to work with a group of Russian investors to set up a flagship Trump property in the Russian capital. In language that Cohen himself described to the Times as colorful, Sater seemed nearly beside himself as he reported on his work in Moscow on behalf of Trump: jQuery("#inline_cta_btn_258356 a").attr("href",inline_cta_url_258356); The Case Against Privatizing Social Security, How Minor League Baseball Scored Itself a Union. You can read our Privacy Policy here. var cta_1_check_258356 = false; Sater was convicted of first degree assault, and spent 15 months in minimum security Edgecombe Correctional Facility in New York City before being paroled. The footage of the beating was entered into evidence at Rays trial. slotId: "thenation_right_rail_258356", and his wife Leila and . Felix Sater is a Russian-born dealmaker with organised-crime connections who worked on US property ventures that licensed Donald Trump's name, including Trump Soho in Manhattan. var s = d.createElement('script'); s.type='text/javascript';s.async=true; Ex-Sarah Lawrence student Isabella Pollok, who was initially viewed as a victim of Ray's alleged crimes, was indicted as an accused co-conspirator earlier this year. if( inline_cta_2_bg_color_258356 !='' ){ Felix Sater Age, Body Measurements (Height & Weight) Born on 2 March 1966, Felix Satar is 52-year of age in 2018. Prosecutors say that Ray subjected Drury to a long night of torture, allegedly stripping her naked, handcuffing her to a chair, suffocating her with a plastic bag, and choking her with a leash. Sign up for our free daily newsletter, along with occasional offers for programs that support our journalism. Even allowing for Saters long-established record as a liar and self-promoter, theres plenty here for Mueller and other investigators to dig into. He also asserted that he had secured financing for the project through the Russian state-owned VTB Bank, which was under sanctions by the United States government. Furthermore, in 2008 and 2009, he first joined the Russian real estate company Mirac Group and later became a managing director at Global Habitat Solution. jQuery("#inline_cta_2_258356").html(inline_cta_2_text_258356); if( inline_cta_2_font_color_258356 !='' ){ Well, he tied the knot with his beautiful wife Viktoria Sater. Well, Sater also enjoys a massive net worth. Indeed, Sater and the Trump clan grew so close that in February 2006, at the personal request of Donald Trump, the mobster joined his children Ivanka, Donald Jr., and his son's wife Vanessa in . inline_cta_bg_color_258356 = '#ffcf0d'; Throughout his trial, Ray can be heard obsessing about former New York City Police Chief Bernie Kerik, his former friend turned archnemesis. Moreover, in November 2017, Sater put his home in Sands Point on the market for a listed amount of $2.5 Million. inline_cta_bg_color_258356 = '#ffcf0d'; Later he worked with the SembolConstruction in Turkey. [31][32], Sater joined Bayrock Group LLC as a senior advisor in 2003 at the behest of the company's owner and founder, Tevfik Arif. Khrapunov, who now lives in Switzerland, has been accused by the Kazakhstani government of embezzling millions of dollars and is wanted by Interpol. In 2017, Sater agreed to cooperate with investigators into international money laundering schemes. It all came crashing down in 1998, when New York City police uncovered a stash of guns and documents in a mini-storage locker in SoHo implicating Sater and his partners in the fraud and money-laundering schemes. In 2000, Ray was charged with reputed La Cosa Nostra leaders and associates in a pump-and-dump stock scheme in the Eastern District of New York. Stay tuned with us. We've received your submission. In an effort to play down this association, Rays defense attorney Allegra Glashauser said during opening statements: This was not a criminal enterprise. Trump Seeks Distance From 'Advisor' With Past Ties to Mafia", "The Donald Trump Story You're Not Hearing About", "Felix Sater: The Crook Behind the Trump-Russia 'Peace' Plan", "In Moscow Luxury-Tower Plan, Donald Trump Paired With Developer for Russia's Working Class", "Trump's Would-Be Moscow Partner Faces Homebuyers' Ire", "Felix Sater: The Trump SoHo and Other Projects", "A Back-Channel Plan for Ukraine and Russia, Courtesy of Trump Associates", "Russia can't rent Crimea from Russia, FM Lavrov says", "Felix Sater Is a Lean, Mean Trump-Russia Machine", "Who is Felix Sater? Celebritys Net worth, Biography, Sports, Health, Technology, & Entertainment. var inline_cta_2_font_color_258356 = ''; Clair insists that whatever happens in the hearings, Sater cant obfuscate in family court, saying, Unlike the politics in Washington, the divorce court is the crucible of truth., Sater confirmed the divorce to Page Six and said, Viki was a fantastic wife, the most amazing mother and we raised three beautiful daughters together.. I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. S o who, exactly, is Felix Sater? (Photo of Ray via DOJ; image of Capone credited to FBI), Have a tip we should know? [50][51], The Trump Organization pursued a luxury hotel and condominium project in Moscowdubbed the Trump Tower Moscowduring the Trump presidential campaign. A known bootlegger linked to bombings, corruption, torture and killings, Capone was famously brought down during prosecution on a more mundane crime: tax evasion, leading to convictions that put him away in Alcatraz for several years. Moreover, the couple has not disclosed any information about conflicts which can lead them to the divorce. Though Sater claimed that he cooperated and provided information about the Trump Tower project, Patrick Boland, spokesman for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, denied this and stated that Sater only partially cooperated and showed defiance by withholding requested testimony and documents concerning a real estate project which Sater acknowledged was falsely presented as a joint defense agreement between Trump and Russia and the telephone conversations pertaining to this agreement.