March 26 (UPI) — The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a formal complaint to seize $14 million worth of Manhattan real estate owned by Mongolia’s former prime minister in an alleged international corruption scheme.
It was alleged that Sukhbataar Batbold — who lead Mongolia from 2009-2012 — had abused his power as prime minister “to profit from the sale of his country’s natural resources,” according to a statement released Tuesday by the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs.
“He and his family used the proceeds of their corrupt scheme to buy $14 million in high-end real estate in the United States,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri said while calling Mongolia’s former leader — currently a member of his country’s parliament — a “kleptocrat.”
It was alleged that Batbold abused his power by awarding lucrative government contracts for work in the state-controlled copper mines to unqualified companies owned by either his son or other associates.
The civil complaint filed Tuesday against Batbold in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York points to two apartment located in New York City.
He faced similar actions in 2021 with property owned in an upscale London neighborhood in Britain.
The two real estate parcels were purchased for millions of dollars in what the federal government said was an “international corruption scheme” and are subject to forfeiture based on violations of federal money laundering statutes.
The United States had alleged that a shell company — Catrison — which was owned by those within Batbold’s circle, was awarded a $68 million contract despite the company having no background or mining expertise.
It said that millions of dollars had been siphoned into foreign bank accounts and through a series of other shell companies.
