Boyfriend Maria Butina in the United States accused of fraud

Boyfriend Maria Butina Paul Erickson in the United States charged with fraud and money laundering. He was released on bail. The accusations against Erickson concern deception of investors and are not related to the case of Butina herself, the office of the prosecutor of South Dakota said.

Photo: mariabutinafund.ru

Maria Butina last December acknowledged in court that she had participated in a conspiracy aimed at establishing informal contacts with Americans who can influence US policy, writes Air force.

Then she said she was ready to talk about a US citizen, with whom she entered into a conspiracy to establish contacts in local political circles, and about a Russian official who, according to Butina, led her actions.

The official in question is the former deputy chairman of the Bank of Russia, Alexander Torshin, whose assistant Butina was listed for several years. The American she agreed to testify on was Paul Erickson, a Republican Party activist from South Dakota and an employee of the National Rifle Association.

As reported by the South Dakota Attorney's office, from 1996 to August 2018, Erikson developed a fraudulent scheme in which he raised money from numerous victims under various pretexts. He urged them to invest in his business, but disposed of the money invested in their own interests.

Erickson was released on bail, the date of the court hearing on his case has not yet been appointed. Clint Sargent, Erickson's lawyer in South Dakota, said CNN that his client is eagerly awaiting trial and is confident that the process will reveal the inconsistency of the charges.

Erickson is also under investigation in Washington, but he has not been charged there yet.

Although the accusations against Erickson are not directly related to Maria Butina, his case files mention banking transactions that may be related to the Russian woman. In 2017, a transfer of thousands of dollars in the amount of 20,4 was made to one of Erickson’s accounts to the American University in Washington, at which time Butin studied in graduate school.

The case also involves a bank transfer in the amount of $9 thousand to an individual identified by the initials “M.” B."

Courts of Paul Erickson

After the arrest of Maria Butina, materials appeared in the media, from which it follows that, perhaps, Erickson did not always return debts and was repeatedly accused of fraud.

Photo: C-Span

Raising court documents, the Wall Street Journal found several lawsuits against Erickson in at least three states. The courts ordered him to pay compensation to the plaintiffs, but his elder care company Compass Care still owes a total of more than 860 thousand dollars to victims.

“This gentleman is a restless, born liar!” says Los Angeles lawyer Michael Barnes, who met him at a political event and succumbed to his persuasion to invest $50 in an oil deal. Barnes, confident that he was simply deceived, won a lawsuit against Erickson in 2015. The judge ordered him to pay the lawyer almost half a million dollars.

According to the statement of claim by the famous conservative publicist Brent Bozell, in 2006, Erickson persuaded him to invest 200 thousand dollars in Compass Care. A year later, Erickson congratulated him on doubling his investments, but Bosell never saw the money.

Once Erickson sent him a check for 200 thousand dollars, but he was uncovered. In the end, Compass Care returned only 10 thousand dollars to Bothella.

Maria Butina's case

Russian citizen Maria Butina was arrested in the US in July 2018. She may become the first Russian woman convicted on charges related to attempts to influence American politics in the pre-election period.

According to US media reports, the FBI has been following the girl since at least 2016.

In developing the girl, US intelligence agencies conducted several searches at her home, as well as checked the contents of the laptop and iPhone. As a result, the FBI discovered signs that during her business trip to the US, Butina maintained contacts with officials, who apparently were Russian intelligence agents.

Photo: MARIA BUTINA / FACEBOOK

In particular, she had a list of contacts of persons working in the FSB. For example, her electronic contact list reportedly contained an email account from a domain that is associated with the FSB. What kind of account is not specified.

FBI surveillance showed Butina in the company of a Russian diplomat in the weeks leading up to his departure from the United States in March of this year. The FBI suspects that the diplomat “with whom Butina shared private meals” was a Russian intelligence officer.

Butin is now held in a Washington prison. She is charged with the 951-i article of the federal criminal code (activity in the interests of a foreign power and without registration in the United States), for which the court may sentence her to 10 years.

In December she agreed with the version of the charges that she was trying to establish a network of contacts in the National Rifle Association of the United States (NSA). It is believed that this organization can have a significant impact on policy in North America.

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that there were no grounds for accusing Maria Butina and that she did not fulfill any tasks of the Russian government bodies.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Three features of life in the United States that infuriate immigrants

From the search for Soviet spies to interrogation of criminals: the history of the use of a lie detector in the US

They took him for a spy and executed: the missing militant from the United States was found in the DPR

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.