Feds seek seizure of two New York apartments worth $14 million tied to former Mongolia leader in alleged mining scheme

Federal
prosecutors
on
Tuesday
sued
to
seize
two
New
York
City
apartments
worth
$14
million
that
were
allegedly
bought
with
proceeds
from
a
corrupt
scheme
involving
Mongolia’s
huge
copper
mine,
a
former
prime
minister
of
that
nation,
and
his
Harvard
Business
School
graduate
son.

The
lawsuit
filed
in
U.S.
District
Court
in
Brooklyn
details
a
total
of
$128
million
in
allegedly
unlawful
contracts
granted
by
a
Mongolian
state-owned
mining
company
to
shell
companies,
which
benefited
then
Prime
Minister
Sukhbaatar
Batbold
and
his
family,
including
his
oldest
son.

“During
Batbold’s
tenure
as
Prime
Minister,
Erdenet
Mining
Corporation
inserted
a
middleman
with
ties
to
Batbold
into
the
relationship
with
[the
commodity
trading
firm]
Ocean
Partners,
allowing
Batbold
to
siphon
off
millions
of
dollars
for
his
personal
use
and
benefit,
which
included
the
purchase
of
the”
luxury
apartments
in
Manhattan,
the
suit
alleges.

Batbold
served
as
prime
minister
from
2009
through
2012.
He
currently
is
a
member
of
the
Mongolian
parliament.

Money
linked
to
another
allegedly
illegal
contract
for
$30
million
from
Erdernet
Mining
went
into
a
bank
account
in
the
United
States
controlled
by
the
eldest
son,
Battushig
Batbold,
via
wire
transfers
referencing “car
payment,”
trips
and
travel,” “school
payment,”
and “interior
designer
payment,”
the
suit
said.

Batbold’s
son,
Battushig
Batbold,
a
Harvard
Business
School
graduate,
is
a
member
of
the
International
Olympic
Committee.

Battushig
Batbold
also
worked
as
a
summer
associate
at
Blackstone
in
2014,
and
as
a
mining
analyst
at
Morgan
Stanley
from
2009
through
2011,
according
to
his
LinkedIn
page.

Orin
Snyder,
an
attorney
at
the
Gibson
Dunn
firm
which
is
representing
Sukhbaatar
Batbold
and
Battushig
Batbold,
in
an
email
statement
to
CNBC
said, “The
claims
filed
today
echo
allegations
our
clients
defeated
two
years
ago
in
courts
around
the
world.”

“In
those
cases,
we
proved
the
claims
against
Mr.
Batbold
were
the
product
of
a
misinformation
campaign
designed
to
manipulate
Mongolian
democracy
—
a
campaign
secretly
directed
by
Mr.
Batbold’s
opponents.”

“Mr.
Batbold
looks
forward
to
his
day
in
court,
when
he
will
have
the
opportunity
to
defend
himself
against
these
unfounded
claims,”
the
attorney
said.

 CNBC
has
reached
out
to
Mongolia’s
United
Nations
mission
in
New
York
for
comment
on
the
allegations
in
the
suit.