#Russian official linked to #SouthFlorida biker club spent millions on #Trump condos

Lily Dobrovolskaya and Nicholas Nehamas
July 15, 2017

"#Mangushev is a former officer in Russia’s security service, the #FSB, the successor agency to the #KGB. He first appeared in Miami around 2010.

"In Russia, he ran a group of companies called #AlphaAnticriminal that provided security for some of Russia’s biggest state-owned companies and government agencies. The Alpha-Anticriminal companies were listed under the name of a relative until 2014, according to Russian corporate records.

"#AlphaTeam is an elite #Spetsnaz counter-terrorism unit that operates within Russia’s security service. Mangushev told Russian media that he is a former Alpha Team officer and that many of his employees are veterans of Russia’s security service."

https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/state/2017/07/15/russian-official-linked-to-south-florida-biker-club-spent-millions-on-trump-condos/20254596007/

#SpetsnazMC #NightWolves

@OldSquida2

Where to begin... Well, let's start with this "oldie but goodie" from 2017:

[#Trump's] #Russia Scandal Was Desperately Missing a #BikerGang Subplot. Well, Here It Is.

Paging Hunter S. Thompson.

By Charles P. Pierce
Published: Jun 26, 2017

"[#Mangushev] helped found a biker club called #SpetsnazMC. #Spetsnaz is a group of motorcycle-loving #SouthFlorida expatriates who named themselves after the Russian equivalent of Delta Force or Seal Team Six.

"Spetsnaz members once asked for official recognition from Russia's biggest biker gang, the #NightWolves, an infamous group that has strong ties to Russia's security services. The Night Wolves played a role in the Ukrainian uprising, once had their flag flown in outer space by Russian cosmonauts and are under U.S. sanctions.

"So this Mangushev character starts a motorcycle gang among his fellow Russian expats that he names after the Russian equivalent of the special forces. This gang, named after the Russian special forces, seeks the imprimatur of an actual Russian biker gang that, unlike their American brethren, doesn't settle for tearing up small towns along the California coast. This bunch helps overthrow governments. This is not a guy I'd do business with but, then again, I'm not #IgorZorin, with his millions buried in coffee cans in his backyard.

"Zorin and Mangushev have ties in both Russia and the United States: In Russia, security firms that have been linked to Mangushev have won $2.4 million worth of contracts from Zorin's agency since 2015. In Miami, Mangushev once transferred a Florida company that owned a $1.5 million condo out of his name and into Zorin's. No deed of sale was recorded, meaning the price paid — if any — is unknown. The condo is one of three units Zorin owned at Trump Palace, a ritzy tower in Sunny Isles Beach built by a local developer and branded by the Trump Organization. Their total value? $5.4 million. Zorin still owns two condos there, plus a $3.3 million home in Bal Harbour… Zorin was not an original buyer at #TrumpPalace, meaning his funds would not have gone to the #TrumpOrganization, which signed lucrative deals to brand several condo towers in South Florida in the early 2000s. The Trump name is attractive to Russian buyers and helped turn Sunny Isles Beach into a high-rise condo haven sometimes called 'Little Moscow.'"

Read more: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a55879/russian-bikers-trump/

@OldSquida2