World enews: Oleg Deripaska: FBI activity outside DC home of Russian oligarch, report says

Law enforcement activity has been reported outside the Washington, DC home of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, NBC News reports.

A number of FBI agents have gathered at the property and cordoned it off with tape. A spokesperson would not elaborate to the network on the reason they were there.

The Independent has asked for confirmation and clarification of the reason for the bureau’s activity.

An FBI representative told Reuters it was conducting court-authorised law enforcement activity at a residence on 30th Street in Washington but did not confirm whether it was Mr Deripaska‘s home.

A 2017 report in The Washington Post tied a property on that street to the Russian billionaire.

CNN reports an official saying that the activity is related to an ongoing federal investigation out of New York and that a location was also searched there.

Larisa Belyaeva, a representative for Mr Deripaska, told the TASS Russian news agency that the searches were “related to US sanctions”, and that the oligarch does not own the two properties being searched.

Mr Deripaska is the founder of Basic Element, one of Russia’s largest industrial groups.

He is known to have connections with former Trump political consultant Paul Manafort, whom he employed from 2005 to 2009.

The former Trump campaign chairman was convicted on fraud charges stemming from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Former President Donald Trump pardoned Mr Manafort in his final month in office.

An influential billionaire and an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Mr Deripaska was blacklisted by the US along with several other influential Russians because of their ties to the Russian leader following alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Washington previously dropped sanctions against his two main companies, aluminum giant Rusal and its parent En+ Group. He owns part of Rusal via his stake in En+ Group.

Sanctions were kept on Mr Deripaska personally. He had sued to have them lifted but his lawsuit was dismissed in June.

He has rejected any connection to Russian interference in the 2016 US election.