Escort Says Evidence Now with Oligarch

News  |  Aug 21, 2018

According to The Associated Press, the Belarusian escort who claimed to have incriminating tapes of Oleg Deripaska discussing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election says that evidence now is with the oligarch. 

Anastasia Vashukevich, who also uses the name Nastya Rybka, pleaded not guilty to charges of soliciting and conspiracy to solicit in a court appearance in the Thai resort city of Pattaya to prepare for her trial along with seven co-defendants ... 

Vashukevich, Russian self-styled sex guru Alexander Kirillov and six other people were arrested at a sex training seminar in Pattaya in February and have been in custody ever since. All the defendants, who could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, pleaded not guilty.

Vashukevich told The Associated Press that she had turned over audio recordings to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, whose conversations about election interference she claimed to have taped.

She has said she provided "escort" services to Deripaska, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and who has links to Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager now being tried in the United States on money laundering and other charges.

Speaking to an AP reporter in the courtroom in Pattaya, Vashukevich said she had promised Deripaska she would no longer speak on the matter, and that he had already promised her something in return for not making that evidence public.

"He promised me a little something already," Vashukevich said. "If he do that then there will be no problem, but if he don't ..." she said with a shrug and a smile.

She also shrugged and smiled when asked if she had kept her own copies of the information she recorded, which she said comprised "some audio, some video."

Asked what the material showed, she said, "You'd have to ask Deripaska."

(...)

[When first arrested, Vashukevich] appealed to America for help and for asylum, through a letter to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, but provided no proof of her claims. At a hearing in April, she seemed to switch allegiances, making a public apology to Deripaska and saying it was the Americans, not the Russians, who were persecuting her.

Escort says oligarch now has tapes on Russia interference (Associated Press)