UK Businessman Graham Bonham-Carter Arrested for Allegedly Helping Russian Oligarch Evade Sanctions

Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska addresses media representatives during a press conference in Moscow, Russia, on June 28, 2022. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images

A UK businessman was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly conspiring to help a Russian oligarch evade U.S. sanctions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Graham Bonham-Carter, 62, the cousin of actress Helena Bonham-Carter, is accused of wire fraud and funding U.S. properties purchased by Russian oligarch Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska, who has been sanctioned by the U.S. government since 2018.

The U.S. government now seeks to extradite Bonham-Carter, who is also accused of unlawfully moving Deripaska’s artwork out of the United States, according to the DOJ.

A 2014 executive order by former President Barrack Obama declared a national emergency with respect to Ukraine and prohibited transactions of various natures that benefit any person specially designated by the U.S. Treasury.

Four years later, the U.S. Treasury determined Deripaska’s actions with respect to Ukraine constituted an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, the DOJ said.

Bonham-Carter has worked for entities controlled by Deripaska since July 2003, managing the oligarch’s residential properties located in the United Kingdom and Europe, including a house in Belgravia Square, London, the DOJ said, citing court documents.

Allegations

The DOJ alleges that despite knowledge of the U.S. government’s sanctions, Bonham-Carter continued to work for the Russian oligarch and referred to Deripaska as his “boss” in an email dated “on or about” June 18, 2018.

“Times a bit tough for my boss as sanctions have hit him from the USA so not an ideal time,” Bonham-Carter allegedly wrote in the email, according to the DOJ.

In another email from October 2021, the DOJ said Bonham-Carter spoke about banks “shutting me down” because of his affiliation with “my boss Oleg Deripaska.”

“I have even been advised not to go to the USA where Oleg still has personal sanctions as the authorities will undoubtedly pull me to one side and the questioning could be hours or even days!!” the UK businessman allegedly wrote in an email, according to the DOJ.

$1 Million for US Properties, Artwork

The DOJ alleges that Bonham-Carter was involved in more than $1 million of illicit transactions to fund U.S. real estate properties in New York and Washington, D.C., for Deripaska’s benefit and attempt to unlawfully transfer artwork from a New York auction house.

After Deripaska was sanctioned, Bonham-Carter allegedly set up a new company in his name, called GBCM Limited, at the direction of the oligarch, in order to manage Deripask’s three U.S. properties.

The three U.S. properties, two in New York City and one in Washington, D.C., had been managed by a company named Gracetown Inc. since they were purchased between 2005 and 2008, according to the DOJ.

In 2021, Bonham-Carter allegedly transmitted over $1 million from a Russian bank account held in the name of GBCM Limited to bank accounts held by Gracetown Inc. in New York City, according to the DOJ.

The money was allegedly used to pay staff salaries, property taxes, and other services to maintain Deripaska’s U.S. properties, the DOJ said.

In May 2021, a New York City auction house suspected Deripaska was behind the purchase and attempted unlawful transfer of artwork to London. Bonham-Carter allegedly attempted, “through misrepresentations,” to conceal the oligarch’s ownership of the artwork by falsely advising that the artwork and payment for its transfer did not belong to Deripaska.

“In fact, as Bonham-Carter knew, Deripaska had purchased the artwork, it remained his property, and the funds used to pay for shipping would be billed to Deripaska,” the DOJ said.

If convicted in a U.S. court for the three-count indictment, Bonham-Carter could face up to 20 years in prison.