The Daily Beast has uncovered a new story about Maria Butina, the 29-year-old former graduate student currently awaiting trial on charges of being a Russian agent, that suggests her mission in the U.S. extended beyond establishing useful alliances with conservative political operatives.
She also took a keen interest in contentious, complex matters involving international finance—all while attempting to influence the primary financier of what would become Washington’s most Trump-friendly foreign-policy think tank.
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The story starts in June 2008, with legendary American businessman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the one-time CEO of insurance and financial services giant AIG. Greenberg’s Starr Russia Investments III bought 20 percent of Investtorgbank, a Russian bank. Banki.ru reported that the fund Greenberg headed paid about $100 million for its share of the bank. In August 2009, Starr invested an additional $8 million in the bank, according to court filings in the state of New York.
The story continues that due to self-dealing by the bank's chairman and other officials, the institution ran into trouble.
In April 2015, while that audit was still underway, Butina and Alexander Torshin—a Russian Central Bank official later accused of money laundering and sanctioned by the U.S. government—attended a private discussion of Russia’s financial situation at the Center for the National Interest, according to Reuters. Greenberg participated in the meeting.
... [T]he Center for the National Interest is known for facilitating conversations between Kremlin officials and American foreign-policy leaders ...
The Center’s honorary chairman—former secretary of state and accused war criminal Henry Kissinger—is one of Vladimir Putin’s closest international confidants; the two have met 17 times over the years. Kissinger also advised Donald Trump to move closer to Russia as a way of containing China’s rise on the global stage. Board member Richard Burt is also a lobbyist for Russian old giant Gazprom. Jon Huntsman, Trump’s ambassador to Russia, previously served on the Center’s board. And David Keene, whom Butina appears to have cultivated, is also a board member. Butina also wrote for the Center’s magazine.
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Greenberg is a main source of funding for the Center, which arguably has closer relationships with Kremlin officials than any other Washington think tank. From fiscal year 2012 to fiscal year 2015, its total net revenue was $11.6 million; Greenberg’s $5.6 million in contributions nearly half of its income. Greenberg is chairman emeritus of the Center’s board and received its lifetime achievement award in 2017.
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Sources familiar with Butina’s activity told The Daily Beast that she approached [Greenberg's] Starr investment empire and recommended he invest more money in the flailing bank. The move left observers shocked and disturbed—a little-known twenty-something who was closely linked to a top official in the Russian Central Bank appeared to be telling a major American financier how to handle his Russia investments.
These sources said it was unclear if she was acting alone, providing a covert message on behalf of the Russian government, or looking to enrich herself through a potential transaction. The fact that Butina carried business cards claiming she was a Central Bank employee only added to the confusion.
Butina's efforts did not work, and the Central Bank seized InvesttorgBank. But her money matters did not stop there.
BuzzFeed reported earlier Tuesday that federal investigators are scrutinizing a number of financial transactions linked to Butina, including a $90,000 transaction with Alfa Bank. Her attorney told BuzzFeed the payments were neither illegal nor remarkable.
Lawyers for Butina and Greenberg—who last year paid a $9.9 million settlement with the New York Attorney General’s Office to settle fraud charges—declined to comment for this piece.
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia and CIR Advisory Board member Evelyn Farkas tells The Daily Beast this story does not help Butina's claim she is not tied to the Russian government.
“I would think it’s even more evidence that she had a broader agenda, she was doing other work for the Kremlin,” said Evelyn Farkas, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former Pentagon official focused on Russia. “It’s interesting that she was not only seeking to provide ways for the Russian government to put money into the U.S. political system in order to influence our electoral outcome, but that she clearly also was interested in luring American money to Russia.”
Accused Russian Spy Maria Butina Told American CEO: Send Cash to Moscow (Daily Beast)