There have been multiple unsealing recently.

One was against Chinese operatives who tried to steal a bunch of data and secrets from GE Aviation in Cincinnati.

I am not working at full capacity ATM, but I can’t remember seeing anything unsealed against US citizens recently other than a couple of people in Kentucky who tried to defraud the US government by selling materials to the DoD from sanctioned Chinese producers.

This is another international unsealing. The fact Derkach is part of the 2020 sanctions, is charged with “conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Acts (IEEPA),” gets called out for supposedly “threatening our democracy,” and was conducting business in Beverly Hills, a hotbed for sex trafficking, is what made me pause and read the whole statement.

Something definitely seems up with this dude.

He also remains at large. They’re just seizing his assets somehow through the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021. Didn’t realize this kind of thing was in there.

I need to do more research into the IEEPA, though, as this is the first I’m hearing of it.

For those who don’t want to read the statement, here’s the summary of the seven counts:

Conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Acts (IEEPA), bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and four counts of money laundering in connection with the purchase and maintenance of two condominiums in Beverly Hills, California.

I really want to know who set the deals up for Derkach. The DOJ calls them The Nominee.

The scheme utilized a U.S.-based financial services professional (the Nominee). The Nominee assisted Derkach and CC-l in setting up and managing several corporate entities designed to hide Derkach’s ownership interest in the Subject Condominiums and related financial holdings. The Nominee understood that Derkach and CC-1 would occupy one of the Subject Condominiums, and the other would be used by Derkach’s children.

Derkach was even involved in discussions regarding human rights in Ukraine:

To obtain a U.S. visa, and to ostensibly attend meetings and conferences related to human rights issues in Ukraine, Derkach retained the services of a U.S.-based consulting firm (Firm-1). The written contract purported to be between Firm-l and a Ukrainian shipping company and did not refer to Derkach, notwithstanding Derkach’s direct involvement in the provision of services that the contract purported to reflect. In or about and between July 2018 and December 2018, Derkach paid Firm-l approximately $100,000. In a July 2018 email communication with Firm-l, Derkach’s representative expressed concern that, “given the fact that my client [Derkach] is a politically exposed person, as well as the statements he made concerning Ukraine’s interference into U.S. elections and the insider information we have in our possession,” the visa application process could be potentially complicated for Derkach.

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