Batbold Sukhbaatar of Mongolia addresses the Millennium Development Goals Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York, September 22, 2010.
Emmanuel Dunand | AFP | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit Tuesday to seize two New York apartments worth $14 million that were allegedly purchased with the proceeds of a bribery scheme involving Mongolia’s massive copper mine, a former Prime Minister of this country and his son graduated from Harvard Business School.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn details a total of $128 million in allegedly illegal contracts awarded by a state-owned Mongolian mining company to shell companies, which benefited then-Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold and to his family, including his eldest son.
“During Batbold’s tenure as Prime Minister, Erdenet Mining Corporation inserted a middleman with ties to Batbold into the relationship with (commodity trading firm) Ocean Partners, allowing Batbold to siphon off millions of dollars to his personal use and benefit, which included the purchase of “luxury apartments in Manhattan,” the suit claims.
Batbold served as Prime Minister from 2009 to 2012. He is currently a member of the Mongolian parliament.
Money linked to another allegedly illegal $30 million Erdernet Mining contract was paid into a U.S. bank account controlled by the eldest son, Battushig Batbold, via wire transfers referring to “payment of car,” to travel and travel,” to “school payment,” and “interior designer payment,” the suit states.
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 to 2011, according to his LinkedIn page.
Orin Snyder, an attorney with the Gibson Dunn firm who represents Sukhbaatar Batbold and Battushig Batbold, said in an emailed statement to CNBC: “The claims filed today echo allegations our clients rejected two years ago before the courts around the world. »
“In these cases, we have proven that the allegations against Mr. Batbold were the product of a disinformation campaign intended to manipulate Mongolian democracy – a campaign covertly run by Mr. Batbold’s opponents.”
“Mr. Batbold looks forward to his trial, where he will have the opportunity to defend himself against these unfounded allegations,” the lawyer said.
CNBC contacted the Mongolian United Nations mission in New York for comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.
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