Russian general buys $38 million worth of property in Miami
Former Russian Major-General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Anatoly Petukhov, who dealt with combating organized crime, invested $38 million in real estate in Miami, as reported by the international anti-corruption organization, Transparency International Russia, who has been investigating these activities.
Petukhov held the post of the Deputy Head of the MIA Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime. This unit dealt not only with mafia, but also with economic crimes, and served as the security service for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
After the failure of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime, he moved to work at the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and started business.
Since 2010, the ex-general moved to Miami, where he bought a luxury property in the Miami Dade Continuum North Tower, worth $3.04 million.
A year later, Petukhov bought an office space for 3.2 million dollars through Asko Inc, which is controlled by him and his wife, Julia Petukhova. The deal amounted to $3.2 million. Asko Inc., specializes in renting office buildings and shopping centers and managing commercial real estate.
Petukhov later bought another office property in Hallandale Beach. To do this, his company received a loan of $2.1 million from Stone Gate Bank. Although the loan was issued for a period of 10 years, Petukhov repaid it just in two years.
Asko Inc. owns three office locations now, as well as a shopping center in Hallandale Beach, and seven offices at Imperial Towers North at a total cost of $13.6 million.
The largest of these transactions was the purchase of two mansions in Miami on Hibiscus Island. One mansion was bought for 7.9 million dollars, the second one for 7.05 million dollars.
According to Transparency International, the evidence for the Petukhov case contains information that indicates that the ex-general not only illegally obtained the US residency status for him and his family, but may also have committed crimes in Russia.
"At the same time, we were unable to find out where about $40 million in funds came from, which Petukhov invested in overseas property," the report of Transparency International says.