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Exiled Russian Oligarch Accused of Corruption Pays $200,000 To Get U.S. Visa

Andrei Borodin Sergei Kulikov / TASS

A former Bank of Moscow chief accused of corruption has reportedly paid $200,000 to a Washington lobbying firm to help him get an American visa.

Andrei Borodin was granted asylum in the UK in 2013 after fleeing corruption accusations in Russia. Russian prosecutors indicted Borodin and a co-defendant in 2017 with embezzling 150 billion rubles ($2.6 billion) as part of a loan deal to the wife of then-Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov.

The exiled Russian oligarch has hired BGR Group, a top Washington lobbying firm to “help solve his visa issues,” The Hill news website reported Wednesday.

The lobbyist firm filed a form disclosing the payment but declined to comment on why Borodin is seeking to come to the US.

Borodin denies the embezzlement allegations and says he is being “persecuted” by Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, The Hill reported.

Russian prosecutors plan to try Borodin in absentia and relay the court decision to the U.K.

Last year, Borodin was granted access to his personal Swiss bank accounts totalling 354 mln Swiss francs ($378 million), the Vedomosti business daily reported in August.

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