NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A Russian legislator and two of his staff were charged for conspiring to violate sanctions, commit visa fraud and influence United States politics on Thursday in a New York federal court.
Prosecutors believe Aleksandr Babakov, a deputy chairman in the Russian legislature, and two of his aides, Aleksandr Voroben and Mikhail Plisyuk, sought to skirt sanctions and influence United States elected officials.
The FBI investigated an alleged disinformation network that the agency believes the three men operated from Jan. 2012 to at least June 2017 using a Russian nonprofit, the Institute for International Integration Studies, as a front.
Prosecutors believe they attempted to recruit an American citizen to work on their behalf and sought meetings with at least one member of congress.
The defendants applied for visas under the guise of a vacation and planned to meet with U.S. politicians, but their request was denied, according to prosecutors.
The three Russian nationals are each charged with conspiring to have a U.S. citizen act as an unregistered agent, conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions and conspiring to commit visa fraud.
If they are ever tried and convicted, they will each face 40 years in prison. They live in Russia though, and it is unlikely they will be arrested in the U.S.
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