| In SDNY Defendant Belan
Pleads Guilty To False Sales of Ukraine Mine
and Land Forfeits $22M
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video, Alamy
photos
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 29 – When Valentyn Belan
came to plead guilty to wire
fraud before U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Gregory
H. Woods on
May 29, the
courtroom
was empty
(other than
for Inner City
Press) and the
court
reporter
couldn't
understand
him.
Belan
repeatedly
said, Yes
completely Your
Honor; he
told Judge
Woods he had a
masters degree
from Ukraine.
Then he agreed
to forfeit
over $22
million
dollars and to
a prison term
of 97 to 121 months.
The underlying
complaint
describes Belan conning a
businessman
from Hong
Kong to
invited in real
estate and a
mine in
Ukraine. In
his allocution
Belan said
most of this
took place
outside of the
U.S. but there
had been one
meeting in New
York.
But
the forfeiture
order lists
three bank
accounts at
Suntrust - now
seeking to sell
itself to BB&T
only recently
released from
a money
laundering enforcement
action by the
U.S. Federal
Reserve - and
another two at
TD Bank. Also
to be
forfeited: Units 101-102,
and additional
space in Blocks
10-11, located
at The
Century
Garden, No 726
XinHua Road,
Chang Ning
District,
Shanghai,
China.
Belan's
defense lawyer
Florian Miedel put
into the record
the the value
of this property
should be subtracted
from the $22
million
figure. Judge
Woods signed
the order.
Also in the
SDNY, in 2018,
Belan lost
custody of his
minor
children to
their mother
Olena
Chumachenko.
The transcript
has
this: "Q:
Were you aware
of Ms.
Chumachenko's
relationship
with a man
from Kuwait
named Nabil?
A: She did
mention to me
that
she had met
another man."
Then by
another
questioner:
"Alyna
Nechaeva...
they started
in 2012 and it
lasted for a
few years." And
now even the Shanghai
apartment
is gone...
Earlier on May 29
as the U.S. Panama Papers
prosecution of accountant
Richard Gaffey and tax
expatriate Harald Joachim von
der Goltz moved toward trial,
on May 29 disputes about
suppressing files seized from
the accountant's office and
documents obtained from
Panama, Germany and elsewhere
overseas came to the fore.
SDNY
Judge Richard
M. Berman asked
whether the
lawyer for
initially lead
defendant
Ramses Owens,
sitting on the
side of his
courtroom,
even had the
right to make
arguments.
Owens has not
been arraigned
or appeared in
the case.
From Panama,
using J.
Iandolo Law of
13th Avenue,
Brooklyn,
Owens is
disputing the
use of his
mobile phone
records
obtained under
the US -
Panama Mutual
Assistance in
Criminal
Matters
Treaty.
Assistant US
Attorney Eun
Young Choi
argued that
some of the
US' request
for
information
from other
governments
are covered by
diplomatic
privilege. She
said, however,
that
information
from and about
Germany will
be made
available to
the defendants
on June 7.
Judge Berman
set a motion
schedule
running into
August. The
lawyer for von
der Goltz said
he may file a
motion to
dismiss the
wire fraud and
money
laundering
counts
claiming that
no money ever
move through
wires. The
case is USA v.
Owens, et al.,
18-cr-00693
(Berman).
Inner
City Press
readers may
remember that
Patrick Ho was
found not
guilty on only
one of the
eight UN
bribery
charges
against him in
December 2018,
Chad money
laundering -
because the
money moved in
a gift box, in
cash, and not
through wires.
Watch this
site.
***
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