Alexander Konanykhin couldn't help crack a smile as he sat behind the glass divide in booth 7 during visiting hours at the detention center in Arlington, Virginia.
He finds himself in jail for the third time since coming to the United States, a country Konanykhin says he thought would give him refuge from officers of the former KGB.
"In the late '80s, when I was involved in a cooperative [enterprise], I was very afraid the KGB would come and put me in jail," Konanykhin said in an interview.
"I never imagined that this would only happen in the United States. They have put me in jail now for the third time, and each time they have destroyed my business."
Konanykhin, a former business partner of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, claims he has been made a victim in pacts between the U.S. and Russian governments that go back nearly 10 years.
"There was a clear quid pro quo deal for me back in 1996. In that case the INS pretty much admitted they had an interest in sending me back," he said.
"It was pretty clear what I was payment for," he said, referring to a cooperation deal in which Russian investigators demanded a return favor for helping a U.S. investigation into Russian mobster Vyacheslav Ivankov.
"Frankly right now I don't have any evidence there's any new deal. But I was under the impression that [my detention and the attempt to deport me were] related to Khodorkovsky's arrest."
"The timing is too much of a coincidence," Konanykhin said. "The INS was in no rush to rule on the U.S. government's appeal on my asylum status. Suddenly after the arrest of Khodorkovsky, that changed, and they went from crawling on the matter to just rocketing to issue a ruling."
Konanykhin stands accused in Moscow of embezzling $8.1 million from the All Russian Exchange Bank, the first Russian bank to gain a license for currency trading after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Former Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov is reported to have told closed Duma hearings that Konanykhin was responsible for the illegal siphoning of $300 million out of the country in the early '90s.
Konanykhin denies any wrongdoing. He said his position in the United States had been made even more fragile by the fact he filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Department of Justice after an earlier attempt to deport him in the mid-90s had been ruled unlawful.
"In court [Thursday] the INS admitted they wanted me out because I've filed a suit against them," he said.
His lawyers had tried to approach the INS with a deal to drop all his damages charges in return for being allowed to remain in the United States, he said, but the INS rejected the offer.
"I'm not going to risk my life to get damages," he said.
"When I came here in 1992, it was a different country. I felt I was equal before the law. The INS case against me was proved two times as unlawful. But then Sept. 11 happened and I have no rights as an immigrant."
He finds himself in jail for the third time since coming to the United States, a country Konanykhin says he thought would give him refuge from officers of the former KGB.
"In the late '80s, when I was involved in a cooperative [enterprise], I was very afraid the KGB would come and put me in jail," Konanykhin said in an interview.
"I never imagined that this would only happen in the United States. They have put me in jail now for the third time, and each time they have destroyed my business."
Konanykhin, a former business partner of jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, claims he has been made a victim in pacts between the U.S. and Russian governments that go back nearly 10 years.
"There was a clear quid pro quo deal for me back in 1996. In that case the INS pretty much admitted they had an interest in sending me back," he said.
"It was pretty clear what I was payment for," he said, referring to a cooperation deal in which Russian investigators demanded a return favor for helping a U.S. investigation into Russian mobster Vyacheslav Ivankov.
"Frankly right now I don't have any evidence there's any new deal. But I was under the impression that [my detention and the attempt to deport me were] related to Khodorkovsky's arrest."
"The timing is too much of a coincidence," Konanykhin said. "The INS was in no rush to rule on the U.S. government's appeal on my asylum status. Suddenly after the arrest of Khodorkovsky, that changed, and they went from crawling on the matter to just rocketing to issue a ruling."
Konanykhin stands accused in Moscow of embezzling $8.1 million from the All Russian Exchange Bank, the first Russian bank to gain a license for currency trading after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Former Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov is reported to have told closed Duma hearings that Konanykhin was responsible for the illegal siphoning of $300 million out of the country in the early '90s.
Konanykhin denies any wrongdoing. He said his position in the United States had been made even more fragile by the fact he filed a $100 million lawsuit against the Department of Justice after an earlier attempt to deport him in the mid-90s had been ruled unlawful.
"In court [Thursday] the INS admitted they wanted me out because I've filed a suit against them," he said.
His lawyers had tried to approach the INS with a deal to drop all his damages charges in return for being allowed to remain in the United States, he said, but the INS rejected the offer.
"I'm not going to risk my life to get damages," he said.
"When I came here in 1992, it was a different country. I felt I was equal before the law. The INS case against me was proved two times as unlawful. But then Sept. 11 happened and I have no rights as an immigrant."