Felix Sater, a longtime business partner of Donald Trump, has reportedly told his family that he is preparing to go to prison with Trump, according to a new report by the Spectator .
Felix Henry Sater is a Russian-born American real estate developer and former managing director of NYC-based real estate company Bayrock Group LLC. He allegedly has deep ties to the Russian mafia and the Russian government.
He has a well-known history of legal trouble due to his personal and business activities. He did prison time after he slashed a man’s face with a broken margarita glass at El Rio Grande, a bar in Manhattan. He served 15 months at Edgecombe Correctional Facility, according to The Daily Beast .
Sater is now reportedly cooperating with FBI agents investigating an international money-laundering network that could involve Trump’s business organization. Sater is believed to have helped to move “dirty money” from several wealthy Eastern European families to invest in U.S. real estate. Sater helped Viktor Khrapunov, a notorious former Soviet official and Kazakh politician, to invest allegedly embezzled government funds in U.S. real estate, including apartments in Trump Soho, according to Financial Times .
“…Believe me, it ain’t anything as small as whether or not they’re gonna call me to the Senate committee.”Oh? https://t.co/Aq1Y7xDIWj
— John Schindler (@20committee) August 15, 2017
Trump should be worried about the news that Sater is helping the FBI to investigate the sale of Trump condos to Russian investors because Sater is known to have acted as an FBI informant in the past, divulging information about close business associates as part of a witness immunity deal after he pleaded guilty in 1998 to playing a role in a $40 million stock fraud scheme.
According to the report by Paul Wood, published on the Spectator , sources close to Sater revealed that he announced to his family that he is preparing to go to prison after Special Counsel Robert Mueller began probing Trump’s recent business activities. Sources reportedly said that Mueller’s investigation might have uncovered shady transactions involving Trump organization and Sater.
“He has told family and friends he knows he and POTUS are going to prison.”
Trump should worry that Felix Sater is cooperating with federal investigators. https://t.co/gW8u6Ygm70
— Donald J. Pasley ?? (@pas5974) August 17, 2017
The Spectator reported that sources close to the investigation said Sater might have agreed to furnish prosecutors with the evidence they need to bring a case against Trump.
Rumors that Sater could be cooperating with law enforcement to furnish Mueller with relevant information about the sale of Trump condos to Russians investors have been making the rounds for some months. The rumors gained ground after Sater hinted in an interview with the New York Magazine earlier this month that he could be helping law enforcement in an investigation.
#Russian ?bagman Felix Sater reportedly aiding Mueller?told family/friends he knows he & POTUS are going to prison?? https://t.co/sYUm5HbhOX
— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) August 17, 2017
“In about the next 30 to 35 days, I will be the most colorful character you have ever talked about,” Sater reportedly said. “Unfortunately, I can’t talk about it now, before it happens. And believe me, it ain’t anything as small as whether or not they’re gonna call me to the Senate committee.”
The Spectator noted that Trump recently made remarks about the condo deals that suggest he could be afraid that investigators will uncover his business links to international money laundering operations.
“I mean, it’s possible there’s a condo or something, so, you know, I sell a lot of condo units, and somebody from Russia buys a condo, who knows?”
Trump also recently issued a warning to Mueller not to investigate his family business beyond the scope of his Russian investigation. According to the Independent, Trump appeared to threaten Mueller, saying that he has damaging information about him.
He said that Mueller’s appointment was a conflict of interest and that there “were many other conflicts” he would reveal in the future.
“There were many other conflicts that I haven’t said, but I will at some point.”
[Featured Image by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Images]