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| FD-1023 | FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION CHS REPORTING DOCUMENT |
(alternate transliteration Vadim Pojarskii) was assigned by Burisma to manage the acquisition, and he was planning to travel to Washington, D.C. in March, 2017.]
2019 Telephone Call. After the aforementioned 2016 telephone call, CHS had no interactions with Zlochevsky/Bursima whatsoever, until 2019. In 2019, CHS met with Ostapenko in London to discuss various business matters (which had nothing to do with Zlochevsky, Burisma, or the gas/oil industry; CHS noted that CHS's meeting with Ostapenko took place at a "Russian coffee house near Knightsbridge Street located near Harrods department store," and that Ostapenko's fiancé lives in London). At some point during this meeting, Ostapenko advised CHS he was going to call Zlochevsky. At this time, CHS understood Zlochevsky was living somewhere in Europe (NFI). During the call, Zlochevsky asked CHS and/or Ostapenko if they read the recent news reports about the investigations into the Bidens and Bursima, and Zlochevsky jokingly asked CHS if CHS was an "oracle" (due to CHS's prior advice that Zlochevsky should not pay the Bidens and instead to hire an attorney to litigate the allegations concerning Shokin's investigation). CHS mentioned Zlochevsky might have difficulty explaining suspicious wire transfers that may evidence any (illicit) payments to the Bidens. Zlochevsky responded he did not send any funds directly to the "Big Guy" (which CHS understood was a reference to Joe Biden). CHS asked Zlochevsky how many companies/bank accounts Zlochevsky controls; Zlochevsky responded it would take them (investigators) 10 years to find the records (i.e. illicit payments to Joe Biden). CHS told Zlochevsky if he ever needed help in the future and wanted to speak to somebody in the US government about that matter, that CHS could introduce him to someone.
Regarding the seemingly open and unsolicited admissions by Pojarskii and Zlochevsky about the purpose for their retention of Hunter Biden, and the "forced payments Zlochevsky made to the Bidcns, CHS explained it is very common for business men in post-Soviet countries to brag or show-off. Additionally, it is extremely common for businesses in Russia and Ukraine to make "bribe" payments to various government officials. CHS noted that in corporate budgets for other Russian and Ukrainian businesses which CHS has inspected in the past, CHS observed budget-line-items in Russian called "Podmazat" (transliterated by CHS), which literally translates to "oil, lubricate, or make things run smoothly," which companies routinely use to account for anticipated bribe payments. As such, given the pervasive necessity to bribe government officials in Ukraine and Russia, CHS did not perceive Pojarskii's or Zlochevsky's statements to be unusual, self-serving, or pretextual. Additionally, regarding important business meetings, it is also common in Ukraine and Russia for persons to make covert recordings. However, CHS has only met Zlochevsky in person on one occasion and has spoken to him only twice on the telephone; as such, CHS is not able to provide any further opinion as to the veracity of Zlochevsky's aforementioned statements.
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On June 29, 2020, CHS provided the following supplemental reporting:
Regarding CHS's aforementioned reporting that Zlochevsky said - "he has many text messages and 'recordings' that show he was coerced to make such payments - CHS clarified Zlochevsky said he had a total of "17 recordings" involving the Bidens; two of the recordings included Joe Biden, and the remaining 15 recordings only included Hunter Biden. CHS reiterated that, per Zlochevsky, these recordings evidence Zlochevsky was somehow coerced into paying the Bidens to ensure Ukraine Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin was fired. Zlochevsky stated he has two "documents (which CHS understood to be wire transfer statements, bank records, etc.), that evidence some payment(s) to the Bidens were made, presumably in exchange for Shokin's firing.
Regarding aforementioned Oleksandr Ostapenko (alternate spelling, Alexander Ostapenko), who originally introduced CHS into this matter, Ostapenko currently "works in some office for the administration of President Zelensky (NFI)", and also works for Valery Vavilov, who is the founder/CEO of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology business BitFury.
Synopsis:
Summary of CHS's meeting with executives of Burisma Holdings
| FD-1023 | Page 3 of 4 | FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION |
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