Rinat Akhmetshin, the former Russian intelligence officer who took part in Donald Trump Jr.'s infamous meeting at Trump Tower last June 9, has been accused of masterminding an international hacking conspiracy.
The Daily Beast reports that a case filed with New York Supreme Court in 2015 alleges that Akhmetshin successfully orchestrated the hacking of two computer systems and stole documents from International Mineral Resources (IMR), a Russian mining company.
"The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. was told in July 2015 that Akhmetshin had arranged the hacking of a mining company’s private records — stealing internal documents and then disseminating them," the Daily Beast reports. "The corporate espionage case was brought by IMR, who alleged that Akhmetshin was hired by Russian oligarch Andrey Melinchenko, an industrialist worth around $12 billion."
Akhmetshin denied that he orchestrated any hacking of the company, but acknowledged that he "found" a hard drive that just happened to contain sensitive IMR documents.
Akhmetshin, a registered congressional lobbyist, has in the past also done work on behalf of Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was also present at the June 9 meeting at Trump Tower.
Donald Trump Jr., who earlier this week insisted that he had disclosed all relevant information about the June 9 meeting, had previously not disclosed that Akhmetshin was present.
