Fraud of voters and connections with a Russian oligarch: a congressman from New York got into a huge scandal

George Santos, a newly minted Republican congressman from New York, recently got into a scandal over lies in the official biography. However, now it turned out that his problems are much more serious. The Washington Post, referring to court documents, reports that Santos has close ties with the cousin of the Russian oligarch.

Since 2020, Andrew Intrater and his wife have donated $5800 each (the maximum allowable amount) to Santos' main campaign committee and tens of thousands of dollars more to other committees associated with him, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. Intrater is the cousin of Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned by the US government.

The relationship between Santos and Intrator is much closer than just campaign donations. Evidence suggests that Santos may have had a business relationship with Intrater in 2020. Intrater has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Harbor City company for which Santos has worked for several years. Now this company is accused of fraud.

Santos and Intrater have been working together for several years now. The cousin of the Russian oligarch supported the politician during his work in business, as well as on the political path.

Intrater and Russia

Intrater is a US citizen, but his investment firm Columbus Nova has historically had extensive ties to his cousin's business interests in Russia. In 2018, when Vekselberg was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, his conglomerate was Columbus Nova's largest client.

On the subject: New York court decides to confiscate $5,4 million from Russian oligarch's account

Vekselberg and his company, Renova Group, were sanctioned in April 2018 for capitalizing on the "malicious activities of Russian President Vladimir Putin around the world." In April 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Vekselberg's $90 million yacht was confiscated by Spanish authorities at the request of the United States.

Columbus Nova has long been considered closely linked to the Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate run by Vekselberg. In 2017, the Renova Group website indicated that Columbus Nova is one of the conglomerate companies. Columbus Nova said in 2018 that Vekselberg's conglomerate was its largest customer at the time. However, at the time the firm stated that it was owned by the Americans and had never been controlled by Vekselberg.

Intrater's contacts in 2016 and 2017 with Michael Cohen, then President Donald Trump's attorney, were part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Intrater and Cohen had dozens of phone calls and exchanged hundreds of messages. Neither Intrater nor Vekselberg were eventually charged with anything after the completion of the Mueller investigation.

Intrater donated $250 to Trump's inaugural committee, according to campaign funding reports, and attended the 000 inauguration with Vekselberg.

Santos' friendship with Intrater

In 2020, Harbor City commissioned Santos to find investors in New York. And he stated that Intrater's investment firm Columbus Nova was his "client."

“You may be aware of this company,” Santos added at the meeting. She has been on the news many times. She was part of the Russia investigation. Unreasonable."

In the end, Harbor City received $625 from a Mississippi-registered company whose sole employee is Intrater. FEA Innovations is registered in the name and address of Intrater. The registration documents do not identify other officers or directors. The same address is used by his Columbus Nova company on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Columbus Nova is now called Sparrow Capital.

In April 2021, regulators accused Harbor City and its founder of defrauding investors. Santos was not listed in court documents and claimed he had no knowledge of the scam.

After Harbor City's assets were frozen, Santos, with the help of a former Harbor City employee, created the Devolder Organization, which paid him at least $3,5 million over the course of 2021-2022.

Santos' election to Congress last year helped the Republican Party win a narrow majority in the House of Representatives. However, after it became clear that he lied in his biography, they began to call for his resignation. As a result, the politician apologized for what he called "embellishing the resume", but said that he would not resign. He has not yet commented on allegations of ties with Russia.