Serving Port Washington, Manorhaven, Flower Hill, Baxter Estates, Port Washington North and Sands Point
$1
Friday, April 5, 2019
Vol. 4, No. 14
Port WashingtonTimes GUIDE TO SPRING
FLOWER HILL ADOPTS $4.15M BUDGET
COUNTY REFUNDS $150M
PAGES 41-64
PAGE 2
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Sater sued for alleged money laundering
LITTLE SPROUTS
Suit suggests ex-Sands Pt. resident channeled funds into U.S. real estate BY J E S S I C A PA R K S Felix Sater, a former associate of President Donald Trump and past resident of Sands Point, has been accused in a lawsuit of laundering millions of dollars and channeling funds into Trump real estate projects. Sater’s corporate lawyers, who incorporated or represented a number of the companies involved in the alleged laundering schemes, are based in Port Washington. One of the companies, Syracuse Center LLC, lists 14 Vanderventer Avenue, Suite 255 in Port Washington as its principal place of business, according to the lawsuit. The suit, filed by BTA Bank and the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, in federal court in Manhattan, contends that Sater, who is described as “a notorious New York ‘businessman’ and two-time felon,” participated in an international criminal conspiracy to launder and conceal at least $440 million that
was stolen from BTA Bank, once the largest financial institution in Kazakhstan, and the city of Almaty in the former Soviet republic. Sater allegedly helped Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former chairman of BTA Bank, and Ilyas Khrapunov, the son of former Almaty Mayor Viktor Khrapunov, funnel stolen funds into the United States, the suit says. Once in the country, the funds were invested in real estate and used to procure immigration status for Khrapunov’s sister. Ablyazov had his global assets frozen in an order by a United Kingdom court after he was sued for fraud by BTA Bank. He sought the young Khrapunov’s help in attaining access to the stolen funds. Khrapunov purportedly then sought the help of Sater to move the funds into U.S. real estate developments, which Sater claimed to have expertise in. The suit alleges that Sater Continued on Page 88
PHOTO BY JESSICA PARKS
Plant a Row for the Hungry Port Washington hosted its sixth annual event at the Port Washington Children’s Center. See story on page 3.
Library candidates talk budget, 5-year plans BY J ES S I C A PA R K S The three candidates for library trustee in Port Washington shared their visions for the library and views on the
current budget at the League of Women Voters of Port Washington and Manhasset’s Meet the Candidates night last Wednesday. Matthew R. Straus, Beth Horn and Adrienne Saur are
all seeking to serve a five-year term in former Trustee Robert Lee Aitken’s seat on the Port Washington Public Library Board of Trustees. They each shared memoContinued on Page 87
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