| On Sanctions
Violating for Russian
Kostin Hearing So Trial
Adjourned to August 11
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
June 3 – Vadim Wolfson,
charged with violating US
sanctions for and with Andrey
Kostin, was arraigned on March
18 before U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of
New York Magistrate Judge Gary
Stein. Inner City Press was
there, the only media in the
SDNY Mag Court, and got some
exclusive material, link
below. Thread:
Vadim Wolfson has
retained counsel (with two
more in the gallery).
Judge Stein:
Welcome to the SDNY.
We are here for
an arraignment. Mr. Wolfson
you are charged with
conspiracy to violate IEEPA,
with regard to Mr.
KostinJudge: The indictment
references $12 million
transferred to Mr. Kostin. You
are alleged to have caused US
persons including US financial
institutions to deal with Mr.
Kostin which they were not
permitted do, and using a
shell entity. There's a
forfeiture allegation
Judge: How do you
plead? Vadim Wolfson: Not
guilty. AUSA: We have agreed
to a $1 million bond, 50%
secured. We want 2 financially
responsible co-signers, he
wants one. Also, we want GPS
monitoring. Travel limited to
WDTX, SDNY and EDNY - also
CDCA for business
AUSA: We
believe there is a risk of
flight. As the pre-trial
services report reflects, he
has only resided in the US
since 2020. He has passports
from Russia, Cyprus, Israel
and the US. He has lived in
Russia and Cyprus, extradition
is difficult.AUSA: He has
family living in Germany and
Russia, and business in the
UK. He had assets for $13
million, now updated to $20
million. He could flee... This
concerns a house in Aspen,
there is evidence he
transferred to an entity under
Kostin's control
AUSA: Their
relation goes back for years.
The defendant's employee
acknowledged that Andre Kostin
had been sanctions. They had
the property manager sign a
NDA, about any prior owners
Judge: Are there sizable
assets outside the US? AUSA:
Not listed - but yes
Judge: What
happened in the WDTX? AUSA: My
understanding is the
Magistrate Judge thought we
should have asked to detain
him, so didn't impose GPS [?]
Wolfson's lawyer: Mr. Wolfson
when asked not to by the US
not to travel to Israel, did
not
Judge: No contact
with witnesses except the CFO
[identified in
court, and now on X for
Subscribers here
and Substack here
On March 19,
Wolfson appeared with a
co-defendant (not Kostin) and
got his next date in June:
"proceedings held before Judge
Gregory H. Woods: Pretrial
Conference as to Vadim
Wolfson, Gannon Bond held on
3/19/2024. Initial
Conference held. A next status
conference is scheduled for
June 25, 2024, at 10:00 a.m."
On April 22,
Wolfson's counsel filed a
complaint about the
prosecutors' filter team and
its asserted lack of
transparency. He wants to be
show his list of attorney's
only to the filter team and
not the prosecution team.
On September 26,
another conference: "Minute
Entry for proceedings held
before Judge Gregory H. Woods:
Status Conference as to Vadim
Wolfson, Gannon Bond held on
9/26/2024. Discovery
produced on a rolling basis,
not yet complete. The Court
will set a schedule for
pretrial submissions by
separate order. The Court
scheduled a jury trial for
June 16, 2025. The time
between today and June 16,
2025 is excluded from the
Speedy Trial Clock in the
interest of justice. Bail
continued as to both
defendants."
On November 12,
Wolfson's counsel wrote in
seeking to depose Irina
Skittides in Limassol, Cyprus
on whether Kostin received any
benefit from the real estate
transaction at issue.
On May 28, in the
run up now to trial, Judge
Woods docketed this: " The
Court has reviewed the
parties' submissions with
respect to whether a hearing
is needed to evaluate if the
Government flagrantly
disregarded the terms of
certain warrants issued in
this case. The Court has
determined that an evidentiary
hearing is necessary to
resolve this issue. The Court
is available to conduct the
evidentiary hearing on June 4,
2025. However, the Court
understands that the parties
may have constraints. The
Court also recognizes that
conducting an additional
hearing may affect the
parties' trial preparation.
Accordingly, the Court
requests that the parties meet
and confer regarding a
proposed date and the
anticipated duration for the
hearing, as well as the
effect, if any, of the
evidentiary hearing on the
existing trial schedule."
Of course, there
was such an impact. On June 3:
"The Court set a date for a
suppression hearing for June
20, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. Due to
the Court presiding over this
matter, and possible Brady
violations, as alleged by the
defense, requiring remedy, the
Court further adjourned the
jury trial to begin August 11,
2025."
Inner City Press
will continue to cover the
case
The case is USA
v. Kostin, et al., 1:24-cr-91
(Woods)
***
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