FBI officials conducted a raid at Trump Towers III in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, last Thursday, searching a condominium owned by an LLC of two Russian businessmen. At the time, officials in the FBI's Miami field office gave no explanation other than that it was "court-ordered law enforcement activity" in the area.
Now, the Miami Herald is revealing the reason for the raid.
"Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya was arrested that day by federal agents in Phoenix, Arizona, along with his business partner, Vasilii Sergeyevich Besedin, and charged with conspiring to violate the U.S. Export Control Reform Act and to commit international money laundering," reported Jay Weaver. "The Russians, both from the Sunny Isles Beach area, had traveled to Arizona in September of last year and attempted to purchase aircraft brake systems from a supply company there and sell them to Russian airline companies."
"A criminal complaint alleges that Patsulya and Besedin used their Florida company, MIC P&I, and worked with others to evade U.S. export laws and regulations to send aircraft parts to Russian airline companies over the past year," said the report. "The complaint, written by a Commerce Department special agent and filed in Phoenix federal court, alleges that Patsulya and Besedin fielded requests for parts directly from Russian airlines at a time when many of them were facing increased sanctions stemming from Russia’s invasion of Urkaine."
"The two men then used intermediary companies and foreign bank accounts in third-party countries to mask the true identity of the customers and the source of the payments, according to the complaint."
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Aviation companies froze the sale of parts to Russian airlines last year as the invasion of Ukraine ramped up, at the same time as Russian airlines were prohibited from most airspace of Western countries. All of this has hurt the country's aviation industry, although it is still operating thanks to domestic demand.
"Sunny Isles Beach has been dubbed 'LIttle Moscow' by locals because it’s home to many Russian expatriates. Some expressed concerns about a backlash against their affluent beachfront community after the Russian military invaded Ukraine last year and the U.S. government started pursuing sanctions against oligarchs who hide their wealth in real estate in South Florida and other parts of the country," noted the report. "Before becoming president in 2016, Trump signed a deal with the developers of the 45-story condo buildings to name the property after him to help promote sales. Foreign buyers, especially from Latin America and Russia, flocked to Trump Towers, as they did with other Trump-branded properties in Sunny Isles Beach."
