Moscow in Miami

Sunny Isles, FL, has become known as “Little Moscow”.

“Elena A. Baronoff was listed as the VP of Customer Relations at Trump Grande, and was considered the “International Ambassador for Sunny Isles Beach,” an exclusive strip of land that was reserved for the richest of the rich. Everyone knew her in the enclave, and a profile of her even called her the “face of Sunny Isles Beach and the real estate industry.” She was close to millionaires, billionaires, designers and moguls — and even was quite wealthy herself.

The problem is that, despite being a well-known socialite, she was also a former Spy. She had originally come to America as a “Cultural Attaché in Public Diplomacy for the Russian Government,” a title almost exclusively used by spies of the Russian government trying to infiltrate business circles in the 1980’s. She was one of perhaps hundreds of women that Russia used over 40 years including the famous and beautiful Anna Chapman to influence business on behalf of Russia and it’s business interests.

Elena wasn’t just the VP of Customer Relations for Trump Grand, she was one of the biggest sellers of real-estate for Trump in the area, and the exclusive realtor for the Trump Grand, focusing on selling his properties specifically to Russians – specifically Mobsters and politically connected individuals.

According to my source who worked with her, basically her entire job was to introduce Russians from all over the world to the Trump organization — allegedly to launder their money by buying real estate. She would travel with the Trump organization to “sister cities” using her “sunny isles ambassadorship” in new potential cities that Trump wanted to develop, often bringing rich Russian men with her that would express interest in buying into those new developments. We found these photos of Ivanka, Jr and Eric, with Elena A. Baronoff in Russia — meeting with Russian money “investors” of their condos. ” Ania

Miami: Where Luxury Real Estate Meets Dirty Money The Nation The buyers come from all over the globe, bearing cash and complicated pasts. By Ken Silverstein OCTOBER 2, 2013

“Everything changed in 1997, when real estate developers and other business groups succeeded in passing a referendum to incorporate Sunny Isles as a town.

The first mayor was David Samson, a parking garage magnate from Chicago who retired to Sunny Isles and helped “remake a sleepy area of low-rise motels built along Collins Avenue in the 1950s into a sparking city of condominium towers,” according to his 2003 obituary. Norman Edelcup, a former banker and real estate executive, succeeded Samson upon the latter’s death, and the city has been a property developer’s wet dream ever since.

Seventy-six percent of condo buyers in Miami don’t take out mortgages but pay cash, versus a national average of 32 percent for cash sales for all properties.

In February, a member of Russia’s ruling party, Vladimir Pekhtin, was forced to resign from the Duma when a blogger published documents showing that he owned three Miami properties worth more than a combined $2 million.

$47 million, the most expensive home sale in Miami’s history. Media accounts identified the anonymous buyer as a Russian but the listed owner is AVK Land Holding, a Florida LLC, whose business address is a pay-by-the-day business center in midtown Manhattan and which was registered a few months before the sale by a Tallahassee company called Incorporating Services Ltd. AVK’s annual report is signed by Andrey M. Kaydin, an attorney based in Coney Island who has also served as a beard for buyers of luxury properties in New York City.

Trump’s partner in Sunny Isles is Dezer Development, which began buying up property in 1995 and now owns twenty-seven acres of oceanfront. According to company president Gil Dezer, his firm handles the due diligence on condo buyers. “

Early arrivals included various Russian pop stars, among them Igor Nikolaev and Alla Pugacheva, but more than a few bad apples as well. Miami soon became a boomtown for former government officials and post-perestroika businessmen who looted the state during privatization and for mobsters who trafficked cocaine, bought strip clubs and set up offshore banks around the Caribbean.

In his book Red Mafiya, Robert Friedman wrote that “Versace-clad” Russian gang leaders found Miami to be an ideal base for money laundering, “where each new day brought the potential for a multimillion- dollar score.” By 1996, according to a Miami Herald story that year, some 300 former Soviet citizens had bought properties in South Florida.

Isaac Feldman, who came to Miami after first emigrating to Israel, founded a real estate agency and became rich selling condos, mostly to Russians. Feldman didn’t seem overly concerned about the source of his clients’ money. “That some people [in the former Eastern bloc] operate by not paying taxes and duties and paying some bribes, yes, that could be,” he was quoted as saying in the Herald story.

Mayor Edelcup later appointed Feldman as a community adviser, and in 2010 he received 26 percent of the vote in a run for the Sunny Isles City Commission. Feldman vowed to mount another campaign, but his political career was cut short when he and two other Russians were indicted last December for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering. The trio had employed young Eastern European women to lure rich tourists to bars that bilked them—to the tune of $43,000 in the case of one customer—for overpriced caviar, vodka and champagne.”

Anatoly and Yelena Golubchik, Ukrainian mobster of Ft. Lee, NJ, received a 5 year sentence April 30, 2014, under Judge Jesse Furman and US Attorney Preet Bharara, bought a condo from Trump, TDR Tower 1, Unit 806, on April 7, 2010 “He’s a reputed enforcer for the Russian mob who feels like he just got shaken down by a federal judge…”sentence that was more than double what he previously agreed to in November when copping a plea to racketeering, money laundering, extortion and gambling charges. Golubchik’s lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman…saying they failed to factor the thug’s “leadership” role in the high-stakes gambling ring that drew A-list celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Alex Rodriguez. Golubchik – who previously agreed to forfeit $20 million and cash and property to the government – was fined an additional $75,000 as part of the sentencing. [Helly] Nahmad — who comes from an art-dealing clan whose collection includes 300 Picassos worth $900 million — is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday. Nahmad faces 12 to 18 months in prison under his plea agreement.” The feds say the ring was led by legendary Russian gangster Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, who helmed the operation from overseas. Already wanted for trying to fix skating competitions at the 2002 Olympics, he has eluded capture for years despite extradition attempts.”