Friday, 30 October 2009
Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, banned from entry into the U.S. over alleged links to organized crime, visited the country this year under an FBI arrangement, the Wall Street Journal said Friday.
According to the paper, Deripaska, who controls RusAl, the world's biggest aluminum producer, visited the U.S. in August and earlier this month, the paper reported, citing two unnamed "administration officials."
The Wall Street Journal said that Deripaska met with FBI agents as part of a continuing criminal investigation. The focus of the probe remains unknown.
The paper said Deripaska used his time in the U.S. to meet with top executives from U.S. investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The Russian billionaire was also reported to have met in Detroit with top executives at General Motors Co., in order to discuss the sale of a stake in its Adam Opel AG unit to a Russian-backed consortium that includes Deripaska's AO GAZ auto maker.
The State Department, which rules on requests for U.S. visas, declined to comment on the recent visits, the paper said.
In an interview with the BBC in July, Deripaska accused Washington of trying to blackmail him by revoking his visa, which he claimed undermined investor confidence, the Wall Street Journal said.
The tycoon then denied providing sensitive information to the FBI, citing he would never betray "Russian interests", the paper said.
However, a spokesman for Deripaska was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying the assertions that the billionaire entered the U.S. on special permits arranged by the FBI were "inaccurate".
"Mr. Deripaska did visit the U.S. twice this year for business meetings," he said, adding "Mr. Deripaska has no travel restrictions to any country including the U.S."
Deripaska was allowed to enter the U.S. to talk to investigators in 2005, but his visa was revoked a year later by the State Department due to officials' concerns about the truthfulness of his statements during the course of those talks.
