And the plot thickens. While Democrats fill the American airwaves with a razor-thin impeachment storyline, Ukrainian members of parliament have gone public with a tale of large-scale corruption involving a U.S. company with ties to the Democratic Party.
And they are calling on President Trump to investigate.
Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky asserted that the family of former president Victor Yanukovych “illegally obtained $7.4 billion and laundered the funds through an investment fund close to some representatives of the U.S. Democratic Party in the form of external government loan bonds,” according to the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency. The MPs say the money-laundering scheme is connected to Franklin Templeton Investments, which, in turn, is linked with high-level Democrats. More on that later, but first let’s follow the money.
In 2013, Franklin Templeton started sinking big bucks into the Ukrainian debt market to the tune of $5 billion. Later, another $2 billion or so was added to the pot by the U.S. money management firm. Just last week, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) launched an investigation into Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky -- in essence, putting him on Ukraine’s most wanted list. And that, say Ukraine’s MPs, ties directly into the Templeton scandal. Details of the plan were uncovered by investigative journalists, according to government officials there.
Here’s where it gets interesting: The indictment by the PGO against Zlochevsky implicates Hunter Biden and his associates. According to one MP, the $16.5 million Biden’s company received wasn’t for services rendered but rather through a money-laundering scheme or as he put it from “money stolen from citizens” of Ukraine. Thus, Biden-the-younger appears to be a link in the chain of Zlochevsky’s financial pyramid scheme, according to MP Oleksandr Dubinsky.
Put Trump on Speed Dial
Barack Obama
At the press conference held yesterday, Ukrainian MPs suggested that considering this latest news, their president should place a 911 call to U.S. President Donald Trump to help launch an international investigation. They are seeking to “obtain information about the organizers of the bond issue, clients and beneficiaries of investment funds for each purchase, interrogate fund officials, etc.”
The Ukrainian ministers of parliament also allege that the spigot of criminally obtained money is still open and freely flowing, which is perhaps why they are vociferously calling for a bi-lateral inquiry.
One does not have to dig deep to recognize close ties between Franklin Templeton Investments (FTI) and the Democratic Party. John Templeton Jr., son of the founder, was a major campaign donor to President Barack Obama. The largest shareholder in FTI is BlackRock Investment Institute, whose Managing Director is Thomas Donilon. He served as Mr. Obama’s national security advisor. There could be more links lurking, but as of this writing, Liberty Nation was not able to verify additional connections.
The brilliance of these types of big money financial schemes is the intricate web of people and organizations involved. It’s easier to follow a 1-2-3 and much harder to track billions of dollars from Franklin Templeton to Zlochevsky to the Yanukovych family with a trickle-down to Biden. Perhaps that’s why eyes glaze over, and it’s easy to tune out a scandal with such a tangled web.
However, should any part of these allegations come to fruition, it could spell doom for those involved. The question lurking just around the Ukrainian corner is whether any of the dirt will rub off and cling to the Democratic Party or whether they will bleach-bit their way past it.
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Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
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