NEWS
DOJ Seeks Forfeit Of 2 Luxury NYC Apartments Of Former Mongolian Leader Over Alleged Corruption
U.S. Department of Justice
The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a complaint seeking the forfeit of two luxury apartments in New York City purchased by former Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold with proceeds from an alleged corruption scheme.
The apartments, located in at 21 East 61st Street and 230 West 56th Street in Manhattan, were purchased for $14 million, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
According to court documents, while Batbold was Prime Minister of Mongolia, a $68 million mining contract was awarded to Catrison, an entity he owned through intermediaries. Catrison had no operational history, no mining expertise, and no financial or logistical infrastructure to execute commodity sales, and its sole director was a former linguistics teacher.
The funds were allegedly transferred into foreign bank accounts and moved through a series of shell companies, and some of those funds were used to purchase the New York apartments, which were used by Batbold’s eldest son.
According to the civil forfeiture complaint, Batbold and his family used state-owned mining contracts to funnel funds through shell companies for their personal use. One of the shell companies, which had no relevant experience, was awarded a $30 million mining contract, and the funds were allegedly wired to a U.S. account held by Batbold’s eldest son. The funds were used for personal expenses including car payments, travel and an interior designer.
“As alleged in the complaint, Sukhbataar Batbold — the former prime minister of Mongolia — abused his position as prime minster to profit from the sale of his countrys natural resources. He and his family used the proceeds of their corrupt scheme to buy $14 million in high-end real estate in the United States,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, said in a statement.
“With this action, those properties are subject to forfeiture. Kleptocrats should take note: the Criminal Division is unwavering in its resolve to recover proceeds of official corruption and take the profit out of crime, Argentieri said.
“As alleged, former Mongolian Prime Minister Batbold used the profits from his illicit corruption scheme to purchase high-end real estate in violation of United States federal law. Todays forfeiture action sends a message that corrupt officials will not use our real estate market to conceal proceeds of crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.
TMX contributed to this article.
