The FBI have raided a $15million mansion in Washington DC and homes in New York City linked to Oleg Deripaska, a controversial Russian oligarch and President Putin ally who once hosted former UK Chancellor George Osborne and Peter Mandelson on his yacht.
FBI agents were seen surrounding the Washington DC residence connected to Deripaska, who has been linked to ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele, with the raid stemming from sanctions imposed on him in 2018.
The agents carried boxes out of a mansion in one of Washington's wealthiest neighborhoods, with yellow 'CRIME SCENE DO NOT ENTER' tape across the front lawn and towed away a vehicle on Monday.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed the agency was conducting a court-authorized law enforcement activity at the home, but did not provide a specific reason for sealing off and searching the Washington mansion.
Deripaska's spokesman told Russian outlet Kommersant that searches were underway at his relatives' homes in New York and Washington. They said Deripaska doesn't own the homes but the searches are tied to US sanctions against him.
A source told DailyMail.com that Deripaska hasn't been back to the US since at least 2017 and had no intention of returning after the Treasury Department hit him with sanctions, but those claims have not been verified.
Deripaska, 53, along with other influential Russians, has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018 because of their ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin after alleged interference in the 2016 election.
Deripaska once hosted Lord Mandelson on his super-yacht, where the pair holidayed alongside Nat Rothschild, then shadow chancellor George Osborne and Tory fund-raiser Andrew Feldman in Corfu in 2008.
FBI agents outside of Deripaska's Washington, DC home on Monday morning. His spokesman said it was not his but a relative’s home
The FBI has not given a reason for the activity but told multiple outlets that it was court-ordered
Deripaska (left) is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been accused of aiding the Kremlin in foreign influence operations
Deripaska filed a lawsuit in March 2019 against the Treasury Department, accusing it of illegally targeting him for sanctions, but the suit was tossed out this year by a federal judge.
The activity at the homes linked to Deripaska is connected to a federal investigation based in New York, a spokesperson told CNN.
It's not clear whether that would be the Southern District of New York, known for prosecuting some of the most high-profile cases in the country including an ongoing federal probe into Rudy Giuliani's ties to Ukraine and an investigation into Donald Trump's business affairs.
A spokesman for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
Properties linked to Deripaska in New York include a sprawling $42.5 million mansion in Manhattan's Upper East Side neighborhood. That home was among a number of assets that were frozen by the sanctions.
He was able to allow the children and ex-wife of his former business partner, the oligarch Roman Abramovich, to live there, the New York Post reported in 2018.
The New York property being raided on Monday is reportedly in Manhattan's West Village.
Deripaska also has ties to the UK's former chancellor George Osborne, having hosted him on his yacht off Corfu in 2008 for drinks when he was shadow chancellor.
It sparked accusations the ex-chancellor was canvassing him for donations to the Conservative Party coffers. Osborne denies these accusations.
Last month, Osborne won his first bit of business as an investment banker with the firm set up by Deripaska.
Osborne joined boutique advisory firm Robey Warshaw in April and thanks to his contacts the firm is now advising Russian aluminium giant Rusal.
Rusal is a subsidiary of London listed EN+, a metals company founded by oligarch Oleg Deripaska in 2002.
British peer Lord Mandelson is also an intimate friend of Deripaska, having in 2005 famously joined him in a 'Banya' — a traditional sauna in which they were thrashed with bunches of birch twigs by a 25-year-old man, before jumping into freezing water.
Deripaska also hosted Lord Mandelson on his super-yacht, where the pair holidayed alongside Nat Rothschild, then