Russians Offered Business Deals to Brexit’s Biggest Backer

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And they have taken a special interest in close ties Mr. Banks and other Brexit leaders built to the Trump campaign. opportunities in Russian-owned gold or diamond mines

his contacts at the Russian Embassy in London were opening the door to at least three potentially lucrative investment opportunities in Russian-owned gold or diamond mines .While Mr. Banks was spending more than eight million British pounds to promote a break with the European Union — an outcome the Russians eagerly hoped for

In Washington, the investigators for the special prosecutor, Robert S. Mueller III, and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have also obtained records of Mr. Banks’s communications, including some with Russian diplomats and about Russian business deals.

And they have taken a special interest in close ties Mr. Banks and other Brexit leaders built to the Trump campaign.

On Nov. 12, 2016, Mr. Banks met President-elect Trump in Trump Tower. Upon his return to London, Mr. Banks had another lunch with the Russian ambassador where they discussed the Trump visit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/world/europe/russia-britain-brexit-arron-banks.html?rref=collection/issuecollection/todays-new-york-times&action=click&contentCollection=todayspaper&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

 

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Mr. Mellon had introduced Mr. Banks to Nigel Farage, a strident crusader against the European Union who became the chief beneficiary of Mr. Banks’s contributions during the Brexit campaign.

Three weeks after the 2016 Brexit vote, the Russian government sold the Alrosa stake in a private offering to a restricted group of investors. The shares were sold at a discount to the market price at a time when the value of both the stock and diamonds were rising.

Mr. Mellon’s fund management company, Charlemagne Capital, was among a restricted number of investors who were allowed to participate.

Mr. Mellon has made hundreds of millions of dollars investing in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union, often alongside businessmen close to President Vladimir V. Putin.