UK arrests associate of Russian oligarch Deripaska
Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska (Photo:Maxim Shemetov/REUTERS)
UK businessman Graham Bonham-Carter was arrested on U.S. charges of helping Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska evade sanctions, Reuters reported on Oct. 12.
Bonham-Carter was arrested in the UK, and U.S. federal prosecutors in Manhattan said they will seek his extradition. Following the U.S. extradition request, Bonham-Carter was released on bail.
According to prosecutors, Bonham-Carter made payments for Deripaska's U.S. properties and tried to ship the aluminum tycoon’s art collection from the United States abroad.
In 2021 Bonham-Carter wired just over $1 million from a Russian bank account for a company he controlled on Deripaska's behalf to a New York bank account for Gracetown, Inc., which manages Deripaska's residential properties in the United States, prosecutors said.
According to them, the payments were meant to cover the maintenance of Deripaska's two residential properties in New York and one in Washington, D.C., which he purchased between 2005 and 2008.
"Bonham-Carter concealed the source of funding for upkeep and management of lavish assets owned by Deripaska in the United States, violating the international sanctions," the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan Damian Williams said.
This time the British businessmen attempted to transfer to London a piece of art Deripaska bought at an auction in New York. Prosecutors said he deceived the auction house, saying the piece didn't belong to Deripaska.
Bonham-Carter has worked for entities controlled by Deripaska since around 2003, and managed his residential properties in the UK and Europe, prosecutors said.
U.S. authorities charged Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska for violating of the American sanctions imposed in 2018.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
