Robert Mueller’s complex financial entanglements include investments linked to George Soros and Russia. During Mueller’s tenure at the FBI, high profile cases of financial wrongdoing within hedge funds that he invested in were ignored by federal law enforcement.
An Offended America investigation has revealed that Robert Mueller’s holdings in a fund of funds expose him to Russian investments and to hedge funds tied to George Soros. Mueller’s exclusive hedge funds were not open to the general public, but rather wealthy private accredited investors. The minimum investment in several of the funds is $10 Million.Mueller’s Russian Financial Interests
Mueller has been an investor in Mellon Optima L/S Strategy Fund, LLC for many years, according to his financial disclosures. That fund consists of holdings of other hedge funds in a structure commonly referred to as a “fund of funds”.
According to 2017 SEC Filings, one of the funds held by the Mellon Optima L/S Strategy Fund is the OCCO Eastern European Fund, run by Charlemagne Capital. The fund released a performance overview on August 31st that said in part:
“August was a relatively quiet month for markets and a strong one for the portfolio. The NAV gained 142 bps over the month. Russia was again the main driver with supportive contributions from other markets.”
Performance Review of the OCCO Eastern European Fund
According to Charlemagne Capital, the OCCO Eastern European Fund is based in the Cayman Islands and is has a net-long position in the Russian markets. This means that Robert Mueller gains financially if the Russian market does well. The OCCO Eastern European Fund also has long and short positions in Poland, Romania, and Kazakhstan. The fund’s prime brokers are Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.
Robert Mueller isn’t the only person investigating Russia with financial interests in Russia. California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, reported owning at least $16,000 of Russia-linked investments on his most recent financial disclosure.
Mueller’s investments in Russia could present a clear conflict of interest in how he carries out his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 President Election.
Mueller Benefited From Ponzi Schemes
Another hedge fund that Robert Mueller disclosed owning was Defenders Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund, LLC. This hedge fund wass run by William P. Sauer, who has been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for running two separate Ponzi Schemes. Sauer ultimately settled the lawsuits for $5 million.
This hedge fund did business under 4 different names during its 9 years of existence.
1. 2002‐2004: Ivy Multi‐Strategy Hedge Fund LLC
2. 2004‐2009: BNY Ivy Multi‐Strategy Hedge Fund LLC
3. 2009‐2010: Defenders Multi‐Strategy Hedge Fund LLC
4. 2010‐2011: Ivy Asset Management LLC
“Ivy Asset Management”, as it was known at the time, fed clients into Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme and eventually paid $200 million to settle complaints associated with alleged misconduct surrounding this investment. The FBI never investigated any of the people or entities associated with the Defenders Multistrategy hedge fund or other funds that Mueller has invested in.
The hedge fund at the center of these allegations of wrongdoing never faced investigations from the FBI, and produced profits for Robert Mueller, who headed up the FBI when the allegations were made, prompting the SEC began their investigation.
The US Department of Justice launched wide-ranging investigations into many of the “feeder funds” that put client money with Bernie Madoff. BNY Mellon’s Madoff feeder funds for which Robert Mueller had a financial interest remained completely untouched by the FBI and DOJ.
These facts spark suspicions that Mueller intentionally turned a blind eye to wrongdoing at the BNY Mellon fund, in order to protect his financial interest in the fund.
Soros Ties
In 2013, Mueller was invested with a fund of funds called Mellon Optima. Mellon Optima invested a portion its funds in Karsch Capital a fund managed by Michael Karsh, who worked for Soros Fund Management before leaving the firm in 2000, according to Reuters. Stanley Druckenmiller, the trader who infamously broke the Bank of England, netting over $1 billion in a single day when he worked alongside George Soros, personally provided seed capital to Karsch Capital.
SEC Disclosures reveal that the fund of funds that Mueller holds, Mellon Optima, also invested in Highbridge Long/Short Equity Fund. Alec McAree, who is the Managing Director of Highbridge, previously worked as a Managing Director for Soros Fund Management according to a Highbridge press release.
Alex Soros, son of hedge fund billionaire and anti-Trump money-man George Soros, revealed his close relationship with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in an Instagram post. Politico previously reported that Mueller has teamed up with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office. Sources told Politico that Schneiderman is currently working together with Mueller in an investigation regarding the financial dealings of President Trump and members of the 2016 Trump Campaign.
Many are questioning how Schneiderman could possibly carry out or assist with an impartial investigation in regards to President Trump, given his clear ties to George Soros and well-documented tendency towards partisanship.
Uranium One
In 2006 the Department of Energy, which oversees the United States’ nuclear technology, confiscated highly enriched uranium from a smuggling operation involving one Russian firm and several Georgian companies.
In August 2009, Wikileaks released a classified State Department cable which showed the details of this transfer of highly enriched uranium.
The Hill recently reported that as soon as Hillary Clinton became Obama’s Secretary of State, FBI counterintelligence agents observed Russian operatives successfully attempting to gain influence with Bill and Hillary Clinton’s inner circle. The activity that took place appeared to be criminal in nature, according to FBI counterintelligence agents familiar with the matter.
Russia requested a ten-gram sample of a batch of highly enriched uranium (HEU) seized in early 2006 in Georgia during a nuclear smuggling sting operation involving one Russian national and several Georgian co-conspirators. The seized uranium was transferred to U.S. custody and was being held at a secure Department of Energy facility. In response to the Russian request, the Georgian Government authorized the United States to share a sample of the material with the Russians for forensic analysis.
Wikileaks showed as early as 2009 that Hillary Clinton’s state department began facilitating the transport of samples of high enriched uranium to members of the Russia’s intelligence service, the FSB. The person tasked to transport the highly enriched uranium to the FSB was none other than Robert Mueller.
Wikileaks’ release of classified State Department wires showed in part:
“Director Mueller previously planned to deliver the sample in April (Ref A), but due to a scheduling conflict the trip was canceled. Embassy Moscow LegAtt informed the FSB prior to Mueller’s intended April delivery and received confirmation that the FSB would take custody of the sample after the Director’s plane landed. EST Moscow also informed Rosatom of the planned transfer and that the U.S. placed a high priority on completing this transfer (Ref B). Once the LegAtt told FSB counterparts the April trip had been canceled, Ambassador Beyrle informed Igor Neverov (Ref C), who said that he understood but was disappointed the trip was postponed. The September 21 visit provides again an opportunity to deliver the requested ten-gram sample from the seized HEU in order to obtain cooperation from the GOR on this nuclear smuggling case and to eventually establish a more productive mechanism of U.S.-Russian cooperation on nuclear forensics.”
Other dealings with Russia were mentioned in similar cables released by Wikileaks.
Mueller’s role in dealing with the Russian government in Uranium transfers, which have been investigated and may currently be under investigation by the FBI raises questions over his ability to serve as the Special Prosecutor tasked with investigating Russia.
In conclusion
Mueller’s involvement in transporting highly enriched uranium to Russia as head of the FBI, as well as his current investments in Russia and co-investments with anti-Trump financier George Soros raise serious doubts over whether he can conduct an impartial investigation. Like Jim Comey, Mueller is quickly losing the confidence of the public.
The loss of confidence in Mueller’s investigation seems to extend to within his ranks. Peter Strzok, a veteran counterintelligence investigator, resigned from Mueller’s team in mid-August and transferred to the FBI’s human resources department. This move into human resources has been described as unprecedented by several former and current FBI counterintelligence agents, including Asha Rangappa, who said “I have seen instances where if some issue comes up, the agent might be moved to another investigation or to the operations center, where you essentially field calls all day, but why he would be moved to HR is just bizarre.”
Mueller’s many conflicts of interest creating a serious crisis of credibility in his expansive investigation. One question remains: how can Mueller investigate Russia while having so many vested interests in Russia?
No comments:
Post a Comment