The Kremlin accused the United States yesterday of firing a broadside against President Vladimir Putin by opening a money-laundering investigation into a member of his inner circle.
The probe into Gennady Timchenko, a co-founder of the Gunvor trading house who is also under sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine, is likely to increase tension between Moscow and the West in their worst standoff since the Cold War.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary, told reporters the Kremlin knew no details of the case “and we cannot express anything but bewilderment.”
“What is happening in the various ‘sanction actions’ is hard to explain and very often is aimed directly against Putin,” he said. “This is yet another example of this – though I don’t know how reliable the information is – this theme when the attacks on Russia focus on the leader of the country, Putin himself.”
It is likely to increase tension between Moscow and the West
Putin did not comment on what documents and people familiar with the matter say is an investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York into Timchenko and Gunvor involving alleged oil trading and money-laundering. Timchenko was among the first Russians to face sanctions imposed following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March and later over Moscow’s wider role in the crisis in the crisis in Ukraine.
Volga Group, a holding company for Timchenko assets, said in a statement the billionaire was not aware of any investigation against him.
US authorities are investigating transactions in which Gunvor Group, which was co-founded by Timchenko, allegedly bought oil from Russia’s Rosneft and sold it to third parties, sources said.
According to a Gunvor bond offering from 2013, the US Attorney’s office in Brooklyn served a subpoena on its Castor Americas unit for documents related to its oil trading activities. ` Prosecutors also sent subpoenas to three Castor employees and one employee of Gunvor, the offering circular said.
Gunvor says it has never been an intermediary between a buyer and a seller, “and certainly not for Rosneft. That is factually incorrect. We have never worked this way, and will never work this way.”
Relations between Moscow and Washington have deteriorated sharply since a Russia-backed president was ousted in Kiev in February after street protests over his decision to spurn a trade and political pact with the European Union.
Russia accuses the West of being behind what it calls an anti-constitutional coup in Kiev and denies sending weapons and soldiers to support rebels who rose up in eastern Ukraine against Kiev’s rule in mid-April.
Tensions remain high, with a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine in tatters following elections of separatist leaders in the east which Moscow has refused to condemn.