According to files just recently provided to Salon24 by a reliable source, Magomed Gadzhiev, a former member of the Russian Duma (Parliament) and an oligarch is giving a wealth of information to US authorities that may help them trace international assets and bank accounts of the most prominent members of Russian elite.
These files show an interesting pattern of how Russian oligarchs who want to live in the West try to shield themselves from Western sanctions in exchange for information implicating key Russian officials and other oligarchs. According to the recent story by the Czech Denik N and Respekt, another Russian oligarch Michael Gurseriev contacted the FBI to provide information on Russian President Putin and Belarussian President Lukashenko in exchange for lifting EU sanctions that have been imposed on him earlier.
Mr. Gadzhiev is well-known in Russia. He served in Russian Parliament until 2021 holding prominent legislative positions and sponsoring a number of high-profile pro-government bills. He openly supported Russian troops in Ukraine by donating supplies and military equipment, and has received medals, diplomas and other commendations for this from the Russian government. He is believed to have amassed billions of dollars as a close business partner and best friend of a Russian US-sanctioned oligarch and member of Parliament Suleiman Kerimov.
Public sources say that several years ago Mr. Gadzhiev moved to the UAE and Europe and is actively working with authorities in the West by providing information that could enable seizures of international assets of Russian oligarchs and officials. It is believed that Mr. Gadzhiev’s goal is to secure either green card or a European passport in exchange for information that he is giving the US and European authorities.
Indeed, the reasons for him doing this are obvious. Sources say that Mr. Gadzhiev’s common law wife Alena Avdeeva and their three children have for many years been living in Miami, Florida on green cards, and he probably wants to settle with them in the United States. Most importantly, he wants to shield himself from an ongoing criminal investigation in Ukraine where he is accused of aiding the breach of this country’s territorial integrity. The guilty verdict, fears Mr. Gadzhiev, may lead to his arrest abroad on an international warrant and extradition to Ukraine. He is currently under Ukrainian sanctions.
The files provided by Mr. Gadzhiev to the US are numerous and list banking and assets information covering dozens of high profile members of the Russian elite. For example, describing Oleg Deripaska, a Russian alumina tycoon under US sanctions, Mr. Gadzhiev advises in his filing that „the subject would have more than 75 bank accounts spread between the United Kingdom, Monaco, Dubai, Estonia, Germany and Cyprus”, and lists names of specific banks and amounts supposedly held there. The same file advises that „this case is one of the several cases in which the US authorities specifically asked a maximum of information to MG (Magomed Gadzhiev).”
With regards to Suleiman Kerimov, a Russian oligarch and the key business partner of Mr Gadzhiev, „MG gave to the American authorities a file of 50 pages on the Subject”. It lists over 20 bank accounts held by a Russian bank Sberbank all over Europe, plus his numerous accounts in Switzerland, Monaco and the UK. Apparently, some of this oligarch’s assets are held by his daughter Gulnara and son Said.
He also provides detailed information on the President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov listing his bank accounts in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan. „According to MG, the Subject has multiple accounts held by Adam, Aishat, Hitmet and Khadizhat Kadyrovs”, says the file. Similar details were provided for a prominent Chechen member of Russian parliament Adam Delimkhanov listing his foreign assets at over USD 50 mln and stating that some of the accounts may be under the name of his father Sultan.
Mr. Gadzhiev’s list includes specific information on dozens of other well-known business figures, such as Guennady Timchenko, Viktor Rashnikov, German Khan, Arkady Gaidamak and Yuri Kovalchuk, among others. It also lists many members of the Russian government, including the Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina whose assets in foreign banks are estimated by Mr Gadzhiev to total almost USD 9 mln. It is much less than Mr. Gadzhiev’s estimate of almost USD 200 mln held by Ramzan Kadyrov or almost USD 1 bln held by Yuri Kovalchuk.
According to (EXPERT), „it is not surprising that Russian oligarchs try to be useful to the West. They are telling everything they know and don’t know to win the right to stay. Just remember Boris Berezovsky many years ago. Clearly, Gurseriev, Gadzhiev and many others are following these footsteps. Will it help them? I think it will depend on the quality of information they supply. Obviously, Gutseriev was not very successful, he is still under sanctions in the EU. But if the West indeed seizes the assets of Kadyrov with the help of Gadzhiev and makes them work to help Ukraine win, it will probably forgive him and let him move to Florida or Paris or wherever else he wants to live. That’s the realpolitik.”
Salon24 will continue to study the Gadzhiev files bringing our readers the most interesting fragments. We will closely follow the story of this Russian oligarch’s passionate fight to buy permission to stay in the West in exchange for ‘kompromat’ on the Russian elite.
