The man identified this week as the eighth person in the room at the June 2016 meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives offering dirt on Hillary Clinton is a alleged international money launderer with a connection to North Jersey Irakly "Ike" Kaveladze founded a company that was the subject of a federal investigation into Russian money laundering through U.S banks in the 1990s. International Business Creations lists its address as Suite 309 in the Palestroni building at 333 Sylvan Avenue in Englewood Cliffs That's the same business address that has been used by Emin Agalarov the Tenafly High School graduate and Russian pop star and his billionaire father and real estate mogul Aras Agalarov – two central figures who helped arrange the Trump Tower meeting that is now part of an FBI probe RUSSIA: Pop star with ties to Trump lived in Tenafly STILE: As president struggles, Christie hones pro-Trump brand A business card for International Business Creations left with the management of the Englewood Cliffs building names Emin Agalarov as a "purchasing agent" for the company Another company that operates out of Suite 309 RJI Properties, is run by two men who graduated with Emin from Tenafly High in 1997: Jason Tropea and Roman Beniaminov.  A directory in the building lobby lists IBC and still another company the name plate on the door of Suite 309 said "Corsy International Kaveladze is listed as a registered agent of Corsy International on corporation records.  A man who answered the door on Thursday identified himself only as "Jason" and would not respond to questions Other tenants on the third floor said mail frequently piles up at the front door of Suite 309 and that the activities inside were a mystery "I've been here five years and I don't know what they do," said Kris Oh who runs a real estate company in the suite next door I probably wouldn't recognize them."  Money laundering probeKaveladze is a Georgian émigré who came to America in 1991 and is now a citizen It is not clear from property records whether Kaveladze ever lived in North Jersey or the New York City area.  General Accounting Office launched an investigation into money laundering in the late 1990s now known as the Government Accountability Office published a report in 2000 that said Kaveladze was responsible for setting up more than 2,000 corporations in Delaware on behalf of Russian brokers He then opened corporate accounts with two U.S banks – Citibank in New York and Commercial Bank of San Francisco – through which an estimated $1.4 billion in Russian money was laundered Kaveladze used International Business Creations and another company Delaware has lax incorporation laws that allow foreign nationals to easily set up shop on U.S "It is relatively easy for foreign individuals or entities to hide their identities while forming shell corporations that can be used for the purpose of laundering money," the GAO report said.  The GAO also found that the banks were lax in their oversight frequently failing to require proof of corporate ownership when receiving the assets posted a statement on his Facebook page this week calling Kaveladze the "poster child" of Russian money laundering.  "Kaveladze claimed he did all this without knowing for whom he was doing it," Levin wrote who was in a sense the poster child of this practice and other examples we uncovered over the years we've been trying for decades to end the hidden ownership of American corporations."   Kaveladze cooperated with the GAO investigation and was never charged with a crime told The Washington Post that he is cooperating once again.  Kaveladze currently works for the Crocus Group the Agalarovs' real estate development company based in Moscow Kaveladze began as an analyst there in 2004 and was promoted to vice president five years later Aras and Emin Agalarov have each put their mansions in Bergen County up for sale seven-bedroom French manor estate in Alpine has been on the market for $7 million while Emin's less spectacular digs in Demarest are available for $3 million.  The listing agent for both is Sheila Agalarova She could not be reached for comment on Friday Bermudian equestrian Khaleb Tota recently competed in the CSN Hasbergen International Horse Jumping Event in Germany and finished first out of 31 competitors in the Stilspringprüfung 1.10m Speed A Class Tot Tota won the round after finishing with a Clear Round.In the twenty-six competitor Jumping Class L 1.20m Speed Table A Class Tota and Queensmare recorded another Clear Round with a time of 48.83 to finish 2nd Tota then competed in the 24 competitor Zeitspringprüfung 1.20m Speed Table L Class he finished 8th with a Clear Round in 52.54 Tota and Conchita 87 finished 14th out of 31 competitors after recording a time of 72.76 Category: All, Sports Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed