Attorney Rudy Giuliani’s ally Andrii Derkach, a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian politician whom American intelligence agencies believe is a Russian spy, was charged with multiple counts of money laundering on Wednesday.
According to Rolling Stone, Derkach, who infamously met with Donald Trump’s former attorney in 2019 to spread dirt on Hunter Biden, has been hit with seven counts of money laundering related to his attempted purchase of two Beverly Hills condominiums.
Prosecutors are now alleging that Derkach tried to hide his multimillion-dollar purchase of the condos by moving $4 million around through a shell corporation.
“While participating in a scripted Russian disinformation campaign seeking to undermine U.S. institutions, Derkach simultaneously conspired to fraudulently benefit from a Western lifestyle for himself and his family in the United States,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Driscoll said in a prepared statement about the money laundering charges.
Giuliani, meanwhile, has sought to defend Derkach’s reputation in the past, but nonetheless admitted during an interview once that “the chance that Derkach is a Russian spy is no better than 50/50.”
