-Caveat Lector-
" The Bush inaugural committee said Mr. Zenga's $100,000 contribution
was returned after the committee learned that Mr. Borodin was planning
to attend inaugural events with Mr. Zenga's invitation. Mr. Zenga was
also "asked not to attend" the inauguration or any related events."
February 5, 2001
Business and Finance - Europe
Invitation to Russian Wanted by Swiss Was a Mistake, U.S. Businessman
Says
By JEANNE WHALEN
Staff Reporter
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
MOSCOW -- An American businessman who caused a diplomatic flap by
inviting to the U.S. a Russian official wanted by Swiss
authorities in connection with a money-laundering investigation
said he wanted to discuss business opportunities with the
Russian.
Pavel Borodin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin,
was arrested at John F. Kennedy airport in New York on Jan. 17
on a Swiss warrant. He was traveling to the U.S. to attend a
George W. Bush presidential inauguration dinner at the
invitation of V. James Zenga, an American fund-raiser for the
Bush campaign whose telecommunications company has business in
Russia.
Immediately after the arrest, Mr. Zenga said Mr. Borodin had
received the dinner invitation "inadvertently," and denied
knowing Mr. Borodin or having any business dealings with the
Russian government.
Clarifying the matter in a written statement to The Wall Street
Journal, Mr. Zenga said he had invited Mr. Borodin and two other
Russian officials "to come to the United States for exploratory
business meetings concerning government projects." But he
repeated that he had never met Mr. Borodin and that his company,
StarCapital, hadn't intended to invite Mr. Borodin to the
inauguration dinner.
Mr. Zenga did meet with Mr. Borodin's associates after the
arrest to discuss "various telecommunications and infrastructure
projects" in Russia. One topic of discussion, Mr. Zenga said,
was a road that Mr. Borodin wants to build from Berlin to Moscow
that would be lined by fiber-optic cables. Days before flying to
New York, Mr. Borodin told a news conference in Moscow that the
road project would create "the most pleasant opportunities for
[foreign] investment."
A spokesman for Mr. Borodin said two Russian officials who
accompanied Mr. Borodin to the U.S. met with Mr. Zenga in
Washington to discuss the road project on Jan. 21.
Swiss prosecutors are seeking to question Mr. Borodin about
allegations that offshore bank accounts he or his family control
received kickbacks totaling more than $25 million (26.7 million
euros) from Swiss-based companies that renovated the Kremlin.
The Swiss issued the arrest warrant in January 2000. Russian
prosecutors closed their probe into the case in December, saying
there was no evidence of a crime.
Mr. Borodin, who was property manager for Boris Yeltsin's
Kremlin and now heads an effort to reunite Belarus and Russia,
has in the past denied any wrongdoing and said he has no bank
accounts abroad. He is currently in a New York jail waiting for
a federal court to decide whether to extradite him to
Switzerland.
Confusion over the source of the dinner invitation had led some
Russian officials and media to speculate that the U.S. had
purposely lured Mr. Borodin to the U.S. with a fake invitation in
order to arrest him. Mr. Zenga said he had "no reason to
believe that the security services of any country used
StarCapital to lure Mr. Borodin to the United States." An
employee in StarCapital's Moscow office had "electronically
manipulated" a dinner invitation meant for another Russian
official and sent it to Mr. Borodin, Mr. Zenga said.
Mr. Zenga contributed $100,000 to the fund-raising committee for
the Bush inaugural. He and his wife, Robin, contributed $40,000
to the Republican National Committee last year, and $4,000 to the
Bush presidential campaign.
The Bush inaugural committee said Mr. Zenga's $100,000
contribution was returned after the committee learned that Mr.
Borodin was planning to attend inaugural events with Mr.
Zenga's invitation. Mr. Zenga was also "asked not to attend"
the inauguration or any related events.
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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