A Belarusian model and escort who previously claimed she had vital information about Russian meddling in the election of Donald Trump in 2016 says she no longer has the evidence.
Anastasia Vashukevich, who appeared at a Thai court hearing on Monday, revealed that she has handed over the audio recordings in question to a Russian oligarch.
The escort told an AP reporter present at the court that she had given tapes to Oleg Deripaska, whose conversations about alleged election interference she claims to have recorded.
Ms Vashukevich said she promised Mr Deripaska she would no longer talk about the tapes, and alleged he promised her something in return for not making the evidence public.
“He promised me a little something already,” Ms Vashukevich said.
“If he do that then there will be no problem, but if he don’t…” she added, before shrugging.
When asked what the material revealed, she replied: “You’d have to ask Deripaska.”
The model was in court in the Thai resort city of Pattaya, pleading not guilty to charges of soliciting and conspiracy to solicit. She was arrested along with self-styled sex guru Alexander Kirillov and six others arrested at a sex training seminar in Pattaya in February.
Ms Vashukevich – who also uses the name Nastya Rybka – caused a sensation back in February when she claimed she had a sexual relationship with Mr Deripaska and had tapes of his conversations which provided evidence of Russian interference in the election of Donald Trump.
She then appealed to the US for political asylum, before appearing to switch allegiances in April when she said it was the Americans, rather the Russians, who were putting pressure on her.
Mr Deripaska, who has financial ties to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, won a Russian lawsuit against Ms Vashukevich after she posted video and photos that appeared to show them together. A Russian court awarded damages in his favour.
A judge at the Pattaya Provincial Court said on Monday that if the seminar attended by Ms Vashukevich and her co-defendants included arranging for people to have sex, it would be considered illegal under Thai law.
Pattaya is known to be a popular destination for international sex tourists.
Kirillov, the Russian citizen who led the hotel seminar at a Pattaya hotel, told the judge the gathering was designed only to teach students “how to impress girls” and “how to get girls’ numbers”.
The prosecutor showed the defendants a photo that he said showed some of the students having sex as part of the course.
Kirillov claimed the photos were taken in “private” after the seminar.
