Who Is Mikhail Khodorkovsky? Dutch Court Orders Russia To Pay $50B To Former Tycoon

Russia plans to appeal against the Dutch appeals court order

Khodorkovsky amassed wealth during the post-Soviet days of frenzied privatization

Khodorkovsky's funding of opposition parties believed to have riled Putin

A Dutch appeals court order upholding an international arbitration award asking Russia to pay the shareholders of Moscow-based former oil giant Yukos $50 billion in compensation is seen as a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The court order that upturned a Hague district court’s decision annulling the tribunal decision brings back to focus the chequered career of oil baron Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who fell foul of Putin and went to jail.

The case arose after Yukos was declared bankrupt and merged with the state-controlled Rosneft following tax evasion charges amounting to $27 billion in 2006. As Yukos chief executive, Khodorkovsky, who Forbes magazine once called the world’s 16th richest man, landed in jail. He was incarcerated for 10 years on charges of tax evasion and theft until Putin granted him clemency in 2003.

Meteoric rise during Boris Yeltsin’s privatization drive

Putin granted Khodorkovsry clemency on the ground of mother's illness, following which he flew to Germany where he vowed to stay out of politics. He said he would not return to Russia unless he was sure he would be a free person.

The appeals court order of Feb. 18 overturned a 2016 ruling by a Hague district court that canceled the compensation order on the grounds that the Permanent Court of Arbitration lacked the jurisdiction as the case was based on an energy treaty that Russia had signed but not ratified, according to a report on Radio Free Europe website. Russia's Justice Ministry said it will appeal the appellate court’s decision, which ruled that the 2016 decision quashing the arbitration decision “was not correct." The arbitration tribunal had ruled that Moscow seized Yukos control in 2003 by saddling the company with massive tax claims.

https://www.ibtimes.com/who-mikhail-khodorkovsky-dutch-court-orders-russia-pay-50b-former-tycoon-2924861

Trafigura to end relations with Rosneft Trading by mid-May due to sanctions

On February 18, the US Administration announced sanctions against Rosneft Trading in connection with sales of oil from Venezuela

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Trafigura will meet requirements of the US Treasury Department that imposed sanctions on Rosneft Trading within 90 days provided, the Swiss-based trader said in a comment to TASS on Wednesday.

"Trafigura is aware of the addition by the US authorities of certain Rosneft entities to the Venezuela related designations and the associated general license. Trafigura complies with all applicable sanctions and will comply with the requirements of these latest rules within the wind-down timeline that has been set by the general license," a company’s spokesperson said.

On February 18, the US Administration announced sanctions against Rosneft Trading in connection with sales of oil from Venezuela. Washington provided 90 days to close out transactions with Rosneft Trading.

https://tass.com/economy/1122103

FEDS Fume About NO Grand Jury in Durham’s FBI Abuse Probe

Justice department insiders are fuming at internal reports that there has been NO grand jury conveyned as part of Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham’s probe of the FBI’s alleged illegal FISA violations and spying on President Trump’s campaign.

And many Feds are not happy, especially since Barr just gifted Andrew McCabe a get-out-of-jail-free card last week for lying (4 times) to the FBI. Durham was tapped by U.S. Attorney General William Barr in May to investigate FBI-related breaches, yet FBI insiders said Durham has not presented any evidence to a grand jury. Thomas Paine detailed the controversial revelations on today’s Thomas Paine Podcast and the Moore Paine Show on Tuesday night. (Listen Below)

“This should be in the grand jury phase, especially because the Inspector General did much of the ground work,” one Justice official said. “They might be running out the clock on this like (the) 2016 Hillary investigation. It’s been 10 months and Durham had a hell of a head start from the I.G. There can be no indictment without a grand jury so whatever the rumors are in the press, that’s a non-negotiable fact.”

This story is developing.

https://truepundit.com/exclusive-feds-fume-about-no-grand-jury-in-durhams-fbi-abuse-probe/

3 Men Found Murdered Near California Cemetery, Sheriff says it ‘Was a Message’

The bodies of three men have been found dead near a cemetery in California, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.

They were positively identified as Jaime Covarrubias Espindola, 50, Jose Maria Aguilar-Espejel, 38, and Rodrigo Aguilar-Espejel, 28, the sheriff’s department said in a tweet on Tuesday.

All three were residents of the city of Perris, Sheriff Chad Bianco said in a news conference Tuesday.

The men are all believed to have been killed at the Perris Valley Cemetery, and police are looking into reports that the deaths might be gang or cartel related, Bianco said.

“Three people killed at the same time, that was a message for something,” Bianco said. “It’s certainly not the norm.” The sheriff did not say how the men were killed, but said police are looking into why the men were there and who was with them.

The investigation is still ongoing.

https://thedcpatriot.com/3-men-found-murdered-near-california-cemetery-sheriff-says-it-was-a-message/

CBS News: 'How Jewish American Pedophiles Hide From Justice in Israel'

Jewish American pedophiles are escaping justice by fleeing to Israel and automatically attaining Israeli citizenship under their right of return laws, CBS News reports.

From CBS News, "How Jewish American pedophiles hide from justice in Israel":

Tel Aviv - It's a tense stakeout, waiting for Jimmy Julius Karow to appear. He is a wanted man and is considered dangerous. Accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in Oregon in 2000, he fled to Israel before authorities in the U.S. could apprehend him or figure out where he went. Karow has been running from U.S. law enforcement ever since. Currently INTERPOL, an inter-governmental policing organization that works with 194 countries, has a Red Notice to alert police worldwide that he's a fugitive.

Two years after he fled the U.S., Karow was convicted by an Israeli court of child molestation in a separate case. He served time and was released. Now another alleged Israeli victim has come forward, saying he began abusing her when she was 5-years-old, and continued for years.

Karow has successfully evaded authorities by moving between communities in Israel for almost two decades, and he is not alone.

A CBS News investigation has found that many accused American pedophiles flee to Israel, and bringing them to justice can be difficult.

Jewish Community Watch (JCW), an American organization that tracks accused pedophiles, has been trying for years to find Karow and help bring him to justice.

JCW says Karow and other wanted men and women have been able to exploit a right known as the Law of Return, whereby any Jewish person can move to Israel and automatically gain citizenship.

Jewish Community Watch told CBS News that if they were not personally hunting these abusers down in Israel "then nobody would do it."

The New York Post's Page Six reported earlier this year that child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's alleged partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell, is fleeing justice by hiding in a "safehouse" in Israel.

https://www.informationliberation.com/?id=61214

In Africa, Pompeo Touts Billions of Dollars in Trade to Help ‘Westernize’ Continent

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—As the Trump administration works to combat China's growing influence across Africa, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told business leaders that President Donald Trump was willing to commit billions in U.S. trade and aid dollars to further African development.

Speaking Wednesday in Ethiopia before the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Pompeo touted the influx of billions of dollars in aid from the United States to Africa in what many see as a bid to erode China's dominance across the region.

However, Pompeo's tour across three developing African countries—Senegal, Angola, and Ethiopia—has not been without contention. As these countries struggle to shake off years of authoritarian rule, terrorism and violence have stymied progress and threaten to erode hard-fought gains in government and economic reform initiatives.

Mounting concerns across the continent that the United States will soon pull its forces from critical battles against terrorists and other militant groups also have complicated Pompeo's high-level meetings in the region. With the Trump administration seeking to scale back its military footprint across the globe, African leaders worry they will lose a key Western ally.

Pompeo addressed both concerns as he met with high-ranking officials from local governments and the African Union, an alliance of 55 African nations. The secretary promised continued security assistance and private partnerships with U.S. corporations across various sectors.

Speaking to young business leaders at UNECA, Pompeo reminded the crowd that his boss loves a good business deal.

"The Trump administration wants these trade ties to continue, and expand. If there's one thing you should know about our president—my boss—you should know he loves deals," Pompeo said. "He wants more to happen between the U.S. and the nations of Africa. That's why the United States launched our new Development Finance Corporation last month. Our goal is to catalyze private-sector investment in developing countries, focusing heavily on priority areas like energy, agriculture, and infrastructure. Much of its $60 billion finance capacity will help Africa."

For Pompeo and the State Department, the pathway to success in Africa is investment and trade—not necessarily U.S. aid dollars.

"Effective foreign aid can help to alleviate the problem, but can't solve it," Pompeo said. "Government spending won't either. Centralized planning hasn't worked—look at the failed socialist experiments of years past in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and right here in Ethiopia. Even now, South Africa is debating an amendment to permit the expropriation of private property without compensation. That would be disastrous for that economy and the South African people. Socialist schemes haven't economically liberated this continent's poorest."

Pompeo added that nationwide government reforms, including moving to a more Western model of capitalism, can push Africa into greater prosperity—and potentially help the United States, in turn, reduce China's financial grip on the continent.

https://freebeacon.com/national-security/in-africa-pompeo-touts-billions-of-dollars-in-trade-to-help-westernize-continent/

Bill & Hillary Clinton were Regular Guests at Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s bizarre cowboy-themed village

Bill and Hillary Clinton stayed at Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious ‘baby-making ranch’ almost every year after they left the White House, according to the disgraced financier’s estate manager.

The former president was Epstein’s closest ‘celebrity mate’ and the Clintons, along with daughter Chelsea, visited Zorro Ranch ‘a whole bunch of times’, a former contractor who ran the IT system at the property told DailyMailTV in an exclusive interview.

The family visited the 10,000-acre estate in the New Mexico desert often, but never stayed in the main house.

Instead, the Clinton family bunked down in a special cowboy-themed village created by Epstein, which is a mile south of his own luxury mountaintop villa. They’d use one of the two guest houses, which look like they’re straight out of the 19th century.

Seen in exclusive DailyMailTV images, the guest homes are next to other traditional Wild West-style buildings such as an old schoolhouse and saloon bar. An American flag is raised high above the village, which is next door to Epstein’s private airstrip, where he arrived on his private planes, including his infamous ‘Lolita Express’.

This is all according to security expert Jared Kellogg, who was brought in by long-standing ranch manager Brice Gordon to improve security and set up a camera system at the main house and ‘cowboy village’.

https://truepundit.com/bill-hillary-clinton-were-regular-guests-at-pedophile-jeffrey-epsteins-bizarre-cowboy-themed-village/