Batbold Sukhbaatar of Mongolia delivers a speech at the Millennium Development Goals Summit held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on September 22, 2010.
Emmanuel Dunant | AFP | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday filed a lawsuit to seize two New York City apartments worth $14 million that were allegedly purchased with proceeds from a corruption scheme involving Mongolia’s vast copper mine that involved Mongolia’s former prime minister and his Harvard Business School The son of a graduate.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn details allegedly illegal contracts totaling $128 million awarded by a Mongolian state-owned mining company to shell companies that cost then-Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batbold ( Sukhbaatar Batbold) and his family, including his eldest son.
“During Batbold’s tenure as prime minister, Erdenet Mining installed an intermediary with ties to Batbold in its relationship with (commodities trading company) Ocean Partners, enabling Batbold to misappropriate data. Millions of dollars were used for personal uses and benefits, including the purchase of a luxury condominium in Manhattan, the suit alleges.
Batbold served as Prime Minister from 2009 to 2012. He is currently a member of the Mongolian Parliament.
$30 million in funds related to another allegedly illegal Erdernet Mining contract was deposited via wire transfer into a U.S. bank account controlled by eldest son Battushig Batbold, with references to “car payments,” travel and travel, and “school payments,” the lawsuit says , “Interior Designer Payment”.
Butterbold’s son, Bartushge Butterbold, graduated from Harvard Business School and is a member of the International Olympic Committee.
According to Battushig Batbold’s LinkedIn page, he also worked as a summer associate at Blackstone in 2014 and as a mining analyst at Morgan Stanley from 2009 to 2011.
Orin Snyder, an attorney at Gibson Dunn, which represents Sukhbaatar Batbold and Battushig Batbold, said in an emailed statement to CNBC: “The claims filed today echo the claims our clients were prosecuted in courts around the world two years ago. Charges dismissed.”
“In these cases, we demonstrated that the charges against Mr. Batbold were the product of a misinformation campaign designed to manipulate Mongolian democracy—a campaign secretly directed by Mr. Batbold’s opponents. “
“Mr. Butterbold looks forward to the day he appears in court where he will have the opportunity to defend himself against these baseless accusations,” the attorney said.
CNBC has contacted Mongolia’s mission to the United Nations in New York for comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.
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