Panama Papers Reveal Hillary-Linked Firm’s Dealings With Russia

It’s disturbing to think that Hillary would surround herself with people who are willing to undermine American efforts to isolate hostile regimes if they think they can personally benefit from it. One shudders to think that someone like Tony Podesta, one of the main lobbyists working with the Russians, could end up in a position of power in a Clinton White House:

“’Some of these companies were initially connected to the Troika Dialog investment fund, which was controlled and run by Sberbank after the bank bought the Troika Dialog investment bank. Troika and Sberbank declined to comment,’ the project reported on Monday.

The Mossack Fonseca documents show that Troika Dialog secretly signed away much of its interest in a Russian truck manufacturer to ‘an unknown offshore’ called Avto Holdings. That company was partially owned by Sergei Roldugin, a close Putin friend and the godfather of the Russian president’s daughter.

The Panama Papers also reveal the existence of ‘similar agreements between Troika and offshore companies affiliated with Roldugin,’ according to the project.

‘These agreements were different just in dates, names of the companies, stakes and sums of money,’ the project reported. ‘But the point remained: offshore companies affiliated with Putin’s friend had privileged rights to control large stakes in strategic Russian enterprises, to receive dividends, and to buy these stakes for laughable sums.’

Despite its apparent ties to the interests of Russia’s political elite, Sberbank is officially a private company. That allows the Podesta Group to report it as a standard lobbying client, rather than a state-owned entity, which would trigger the more detailed lobbyist reporting requirements of the Foreign Agent Registration Act.

The Podesta Group did not respond to a request for comment by press time.”

Source: Free Beacon