DOJ Looks to Forfeit 2 NYC Apartments Allegedly Bought Via Corruption Scheme Proceeds
The U.S. filed a civil forfeiture suit March 26 in a New York district court against two New York City apartments purchased for $14 million with the "proceeds from an international corruption scheme," DOJ announced. The apartments are subject to forfeiture due to "violations of federal money laundering statutes," the department said.
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The complaint alleges that Sukhbaatar Batbold, former prime minister of Mongolia and current member of the nation's parliament, awarded contracts as prime minister to sell copper concentrates from a Mongolian state-owned mine to entities owned and controlled by his associates or his son. DOJ alleged that these parties "played no part in providing financing for the purchase of the copper concentrates or in arranging the sale or shipment of the commodities."
The proceeds of this scheme were allegedly used to buy $14 million in "high-end real estate" in New York, Nicole Argentieri, principal deputy assistant attorney general, head of the DOJ Criminal Division, said. "With this action, those properties are subject to forfeiture. Kleptocrats should take note: the Criminal Division is unwavering in its resolve to recover proceeds of official corruption and take the profit out of crime.”