Former Mongolia Prime Minister Laundered Corruption Proceeds Through New York Home Purchase
'26.03.2024'
ForumDaily New York
US seeks confiscation luxury apartments in New York owned by the former prime minister of Mongolia. He purchased them with proceeds from corruption.
Former Mongolia Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold diverted proceeds from lucrative mining contracts in his country and laundered the money through real estate in New York.
On March 26, the United States disclosed information in a lawsuit seeking the forfeiture of two of his luxury Manhattan apartments. They are located at 21 East 61st Street and 230 West 56th Street and were purchased for $14 million. Read about the 10 most common scams in New York in our material.
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According to court documents, the apartments were purchased with proceeds from illegal Mongolian mining contracts at the direction and benefit of then-Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold and his family.
The Department of Justice announced the confiscation of his property.
Corruption scheme
The complaint alleges that Batbold, the former prime minister of Mongolia, abused his position to profit from the sale of his country's natural resources.
He and his family used proceeds from his corruption scheme to buy luxury real estate in the United States, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri said.
When Batbold was Prime Minister of Mongolia, he owned Catrison through trusted intermediaries. It received a $68 million mining contract. Prior to this contract, Catrison had no mining experience or financial or logistics infrastructure to support sales. Its only director was a former linguistics teacher.
Millions of dollars from mining contracts were then diverted to foreign bank accounts. The money was transferred through a number of shell companies and used to purchase apartments in New York. They were purchased in the name of the Batbold family.
The proceeds were transferred to an account in the United States belonging to Butbold's eldest son. The account was intended for personal use, such as car payments, travel and interior design.
These charges will not be proven until the court rules in favor of the United States.
