Reply #3: FBI Lets Barred Tycoon Visit U.S.

[Demeter]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125685578903317087.html...

One of Russia's most powerful tycoons -- barred entry to the U.S. for years due to U.S. government concerns about possible ties to organized crime -- visited the country twice this year under secret arrangements made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska met with FBI agents in August and earlier this month as part of a continuing criminal probe, according to two administration officials. The focus of that probe couldn't be learned.

Mr. Deripaska used the opportunity of his recent U.S. visits to meet with top executives of U.S. investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The aluminum giant he controls, UC Rusal, is preparing for an initial public offering, a vital part of Mr. Deripaska's efforts to save his debt-burdened business.

Mr. Deripaska, left, in Detroit on a recent trip to the U.S. arranged with FBI help. Beside him is GM's chief executive, Fritz Henderson, German Gref of Russia's Sberbank and Siegfried Wolf of Magna, a Canadian auto supplier.


The U.S. trips came at an opportune moment to help reassure bankers his visa difficulties may be easing. Mr. Deripaska's visa troubles are a potentially sensitive issue for investors, bankers say.

Mr. Deripaska also stopped in Detroit to meet with top executives at General Motors Co. to discuss the sale of a stake in its Adam Opel AG unit to a Russian-backed consortium that includes Mr. Deripaska's AO GAZ auto maker, people familiar with the visit said.

The State Department, which rules on requests for U.S. visas, hasn't publicly said why it previously denied entry to Mr. Deripaska, and declined to comment on the recent visits.

Mr. Deripaska controls a Russian business empire that stretches from metals to finance to construction and which, by itself, accounts for just under 2% of Russia's gross domestic product. He enjoys good relations with the Kremlin, which provided a $4.5 billion bailout loan -- the biggest granted to any Russian company -- through a state bank to Rusal a year ago as the financial crisis hit Russia hard.

He is a regular member of the delegation on Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's international trips, and the Kremlin lobbied hard in support of the GAZ-backed bid for Opel.

Deripaska's Empire

Companies he controls account for nearly 2% of Russia's GDP. Some of his main holdings (stakes in each vary):

* Rusal (world's largest aluminum producer)
* GAZ (cars and trucks)
* VPK (armored military vehicles)
* Aviakor (aircraft)
* Ingosstrakh (insurance)
* Continental Management (pulp and paper)
* Glavstroi (construction)

Source: WSJ research


* Deripaska Accused U.S. of Blackmail

In the past, Russian officials including Mr. Putin repeatedly have raised the visa issue with their U.S. counterparts. Mr. Deripaska also hired top Washington lobbyists in 2003 and 2005, including former Republican Sen. Bob Dole, to plead his case.

Mr. Deripaska's recent visits were arranged outside of regular State Department visa procedures because the U.S. continues to have concerns about Mr. Deripaska's business associations, according to administration officials. Instead, FBI officials arranged for a limited-entry permit from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as allowed in special cases related to sensitive matters, officials said.

Another person familiar with the case said there was some opposition from other U.S. agencies to Mr. Deripaska's visits, but that the FBI prevailed. The FBI had previously been at loggerheads with the State Department over Mr. Deripaska; FBI officials have said they were getting interesting information from him, this person said.

Spokesmen for the FBI, DHS and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow declined to comment.

Mr. Deripaska has repeatedly denied any links to organized crime and blamed the U.S. visa ban on a smear campaign by business rivals.

In an interview with the BBC in July, Mr. Deripaska accused American authorities of trying to blackmail him by revoking his visa, which he said undermined investor confidence after the actions became public. "They tried to push me in a corner, maybe believing that at this point I will cooperate with them," he said.

He denied providing sensitive information to the FBI. There are "Russian interests that I would never" betray, he said. A spokesman for Mr. Deripaska described as "inaccurate" the assertions that the billionaire entered the U.S. on special permits arranged by the FBI and that he provided information to FBI investigators during the trips.

"Mr. Deripaska did visit the U.S. twice this year for business meetings," the spokesman said. "Mr. Deripaska has no travel restrictions to any country including the U.S."

A State Department official said Mr. Deripaska doesn't hold a valid U.S. visa.

FBI investigators, as well as authorities in Britain and Spain, have probed Mr. Deripaska's business interests in the past amid allegations of money-laundering from investigators and prosecutors. He has never been charged with a crime in those probes. Mr. Deripaska has met with FBI investigators before. It isn't known what was discussed.

After granting a visa in 2005 to allow Mr. Deripaska to come to the U.S. to talk to investigators, the State Department revoked it a year later when officials raised questions about the truthfulness of his statements during the course of those talks, according to people familiar with the situation.

During the early October trip he met top investment-banking executives including Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein, according to people familiar with the meetings.

Neither of this year's trips was announced publicly. A Russian newspaper owned by a former Deripaska lieutenant last month published photos of him with GM executives in Detroit. In a telephone interview, the paper's owner said he took the photos on the August trip.

Questions about Mr. Deripaska's business dealings trace to the 1990s, when he emerged as one of the dominant players in the highly profitable aluminum industry. A rival tycoon, Mikhail Cherney, is suing in London for what he says is a 13% stake in Rusal that Mr. Deripaska owes him. Mr. Deripaska's lawyers have sought to have the suit thrown out. The court of appeals in July rejected their latest attempt.

In court documents, Mr. Deripaska testified that he paid Mr. Cherney $250 million as a payoff for "protection" provided by Mr. Cherney and others. He denies Mr. Cherney is owed any stake in Rusal. Mr. Cherney, who now resides in Israel, rejects Mr. Deripaska's account. He also has produced testimony from other former associates that says Mr. Deripaska maintained friendly ties with several alleged mafia figures long after he had claimed to have severed those ties.

Mr. Deripaska denies the allegations.

IF THIS DOESN'T STINK WORSE THAN TEN-DAY-OLD FISH! I GUESS IT'S NOW CLEAR WHO RUNS THIS COUNTRY, AND IT ISN'T OBAMA OR THE PEOPLE.

SO, THE CARROT FOR HIS CO-OPERATION WITH FBI INVESTIGATION IS HE GETS TO HOBNOB WITH GOLDMAN, GM AND MORGAN STANLEY? AND REFURBISH HIS "REPUTATION" WITH INVESTORS? WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS THAT?