Federal authorities have unsealed an indictment charging a Russian citizen in connection with an election interference scheme that includes making illegal political contributions as a foreign national and conspiring to make illegal political contributions in the names of straw donors, according to a March 14 Department of Justice news release.
Andrey Muraviev, 47, is reportedly charged with conspiring with Lev Parnas, Andrey Kukushkin and Igor Fruman, all of whom have already been convicted at trial or pleaded guilty to the same crimes.
“As alleged, Andrey Muraviev, a Russian national, attempted to influence the 2018 elections by conspiring to push a million dollars of his foreign funds to candidates and campaigns,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams announced. "He attempted to corrupt our political system to advance his business interests. The southern district of New York is committed to rooting out efforts by foreigners to interfere with our elections.”
According to the release, in the spring of 2018, Muraviev, Kukushkin, Fruman and Parnas conspired to launch a business aimed at acquiring retail cannabis and marijuana licenses across the country. As part of the plan, Muraviev agreed to wire as much as $1 million to Fruman to fund large-scale political contributions they had made or promised to make before the November 2018 elections.
“The money Muraviev injected into our political system, as alleged, was directed to politicians with views favorable to his business interests and those of his co-conspirators," Michael J. Driscoll, assistant director in charge of the FBI New York field office said. "As today’s action demonstrates, we will continue to aggressively pursue all those who seek to illegally effect our nation’s elections.”
The funds provided by Miraviev were allegedly used to reimburse and fund federal and state political donations in locations that included Florida, Nevada and Texas.
If convicted, Muraviev faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted. He is believed to still be in Russia.
