15-01-2018, 07:03 AM
IMO, the ONLY thing good in the Trump 'plan' was a better relationship with Russia - a desirable thing, but one that the MIC+++++++ fears will hurt their profits and wars and control through external enemies. However, as I have long stated in this thread, his desire for a better relationship with Russia was for all the wrong reasons. There are good reasons to do so, but Trump shares none of them. His reason is that he has long been involved with Russian and FSU oligarchs and banking - and with them in money laundering. They have been his only real source of loans in recent decades and he seems to use as collateral his buildings' units for sale to be used for money laundering and turning a blind eye. A recent investigation by Al Jazeera has taken this a step further and identified a few names involved with Trump and one another. I believe this is why Trump fears any investigation into his finances. It is not about Russia and the election really, it is about Trump and dirty money that just happens to come from sources and persons in or from the FSU. This is also why he didn't show his tax returns. Sadly, the Democrats and others are twisting it in order to keep Russia as a permanent enemy. Does Russia and the FSU states have corrupt persons and institutions - you bet they do! - just as one can find in any country, including UK and US bigtime. That is not the point. If Trump is guilty of huge financial crimes, the nation states of the persons he is involved with really doesn't much matter, and will surely include a large number of people from a huge number of countries...as this very good mini-investigation demonstrates. The second video is the better by far, but the first sets the stage.
EXPOSING THE DIRTY DEEDS OF UKRAINIAN OLIGARCHS
![[Image: image2-13-700x470.jpg]](https://whowhatwhy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/image2-13-700x470.jpg)
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (left) shaking hands with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in April 2011. Photo credit: Premier of Russia / Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
With money looted from the state and stashed in tax havens abroad, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych bought the largest log cabin in the world a $2 billion "monument to corruption," according to an investigation by Al Jazeera.
Through dozens of contracts and court filings, Al Jazeera reporters mapped the circuitous route Yanukovych took to funnel $1.5 billion worth of assets to offshore businesses. A sprawling 95-page secret court document revealed that Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU), a Kiev-based financial group, facilitated the purchase of stolen government bonds on behalf of eight Cypriot shell companies all tied to Yanukovych.
Three Ukrainian oligarchs traded $160 million worth of assets held in one of these corporations, Quickpace Limited. According to an unsigned contract, oil tycoon Alexander Onischenko and real estate mogul Pavel Fuchs who has had dealings with President Donald Trump bought the company for just $30 million. A Ukrainian judge suspected the assets were proceeds from criminal activities and froze them before the pair could make a staggering profit.
The seller, billionaire Serhiy Kurchenko, is known among Ukrainian investigators as Yanukovych's "family wallet."
Before he was toppled in the course of the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, Yanukovych and his cronies pumped illicit assets into Ukraine-based companies and then transferred them to offshore accounts. From there, the funds were redirected to a slew of shell companies in Cyprus, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the UK and other countries.
Elaborate money laundering schemes have been a main focus of WhoWhatWhy's reporting. One of our most-read stories of 2017 was an expose of Trump's business dealings with developer Felix Sater and the Bayrock Group, a real estate firm with ties to the Russian mob. More recently we took a close look at Deutsche Bank, a banking colossus tainted by charges of money laundering.
Watch the videos below to learn more about the staggering corruption that bedevils impoverished Ukraine and often benefits Western partners.
JANUARY 13, 2018 | CLAIRE WANG
EXPOSING THE DIRTY DEEDS OF UKRAINIAN OLIGARCHS
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (left) shaking hands with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in April 2011. Photo credit: Premier of Russia / Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)With money looted from the state and stashed in tax havens abroad, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych bought the largest log cabin in the world a $2 billion "monument to corruption," according to an investigation by Al Jazeera.
Through dozens of contracts and court filings, Al Jazeera reporters mapped the circuitous route Yanukovych took to funnel $1.5 billion worth of assets to offshore businesses. A sprawling 95-page secret court document revealed that Investment Capital Ukraine (ICU), a Kiev-based financial group, facilitated the purchase of stolen government bonds on behalf of eight Cypriot shell companies all tied to Yanukovych.
Three Ukrainian oligarchs traded $160 million worth of assets held in one of these corporations, Quickpace Limited. According to an unsigned contract, oil tycoon Alexander Onischenko and real estate mogul Pavel Fuchs who has had dealings with President Donald Trump bought the company for just $30 million. A Ukrainian judge suspected the assets were proceeds from criminal activities and froze them before the pair could make a staggering profit.
The seller, billionaire Serhiy Kurchenko, is known among Ukrainian investigators as Yanukovych's "family wallet."
Before he was toppled in the course of the Ukrainian revolution in 2014, Yanukovych and his cronies pumped illicit assets into Ukraine-based companies and then transferred them to offshore accounts. From there, the funds were redirected to a slew of shell companies in Cyprus, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, the UK and other countries.
Elaborate money laundering schemes have been a main focus of WhoWhatWhy's reporting. One of our most-read stories of 2017 was an expose of Trump's business dealings with developer Felix Sater and the Bayrock Group, a real estate firm with ties to the Russian mob. More recently we took a close look at Deutsche Bank, a banking colossus tainted by charges of money laundering.
Watch the videos below to learn more about the staggering corruption that bedevils impoverished Ukraine and often benefits Western partners.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass