The shell company used by President Donald Trump's attorney Michael Cohen to pay off Stormy Daniels received about $500,000 last year from a business linked to a Russian billionaire who is close to President Vladimir Putin, according to the porn star's lawyer.
Cohen's company, Essential Consultants LLC, received the money from a U.S. offshoot of the business empire of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, lawyer Michael Avenatti claimed in a report he released Tuesday.
Avenatti disclosed a wide array of previously unreported Cohen financial transactions since October 2016; he also alleged multiple cases of potential bank fraud.
Essential Consultants, according to the report, received large sums of money from companies with an interest in Trump administration business.
Novartis, the pharmaceutical giant, paid Cohen's company nearly $400,000; AT&T, $200,000; and Korea Aerospace Industries LTD, $150,000. The report gave no indication of what services Cohen provided.
AT&T spokeswoman Megan Ketterer said that "Essential Consultants was one of several firms we engaged in early 2017 to provide insights into understanding the new administration."
But it's the roughly $500,000 that Essential Consultants received from the business tied to Vekselberg that was most notable in the Avenatti report.
Vekselberg is one of the oligarchs and senior Russian officials sanctioned last month by the Trump administration for Russia's interference in the U.S. presidential election.
Vekselberg attended Trump's inauguration in January 2017. He also attended Putin's inauguration this week in Moscow.
Investigators for special counsel Robert S. Mueller III questioned Vekselberg early this year about the payments after they stopped him at a New York-area airport for questioning when he arrived on a private jet, according to CNN.
Cohen, who is under federal criminal investigation for potential bank fraud, did not respond to an email seeking comment on the payments, nor did his lawyer.
On Twitter, Avenatti suggested that money from the Vekselberg-linked company, Columbus Nova LLC, may have reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 that Essential Consultants paid Daniels in October 2016 to keep quiet about her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
Avenatti tweeted: "After significant investigation, we have discovered that Mr. Trump's atty Mr. Cohen received approximately $500,000 in the mos. after the election from a company controlled by a Russian Oligarc with close ties to Mr. Putin. These monies may have reimbursed the $130k payment."
Columbus Nova began sending the payments to Cohen's Essential Consultants in January 2017, and they continued for eight months, according to Avenatti's report.
"It appears that these funds may have replenished the account following the payment to Ms. Clifford," the report said, referring to Daniels' real name, Stephanie Clifford.
Cohen has told reporters that he used his own money to pay off Daniels, drawing on a personal home equity line.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, another Trump lawyer, said last week that the president had reimbursed Cohen for the payoff through monthly retainer payments of $35,000.
Avenatti's report alleges that Cohen made false and fraudulent representations to First Republic Bank when he opened an account there for Essential Consultants in October 2016.
Among other things, Cohen told the bank his company was in the real estate and investment consulting business, the report said.
The money received from Columbus Nova appears to entangle Cohen deeper in the Mueller investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the U.S. election.
Columbus Nova, a private equity firm, is a U.S. affiliate of the Renova Group, Vekselberg's Russian conglomerate of energy, telecommunications and other companies.
Vekselberg was one of the guests at a 2015 dinner in Russia where Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, was seated next to Putin, according to The New York Times.
Flynn, who is cooperating in the Mueller investigation, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Andrew Intrater, an American cousin of Vekselberg's, is the chief executive of Columbus Nova, which is based in New York.
Intrater donated $250,000 to Trump's inauguration. He also gave $29,600 to the Republican National Committee in June 2017.
Richard D. Owens, an attorney for Columbus Nova, released a statement saying the company was "solely owned and controlled by Americans" and that Vekselberg played no role in its decision to pay Cohen.
"After the inauguration, the firm hired Michael Cohen as a business consultant regarding potential sources of capital and potential investments in real estate and other ventures," the statement said. "Reports today that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false."
Vekselberg's Renova Group is the biggest client of Columbus Nova, but not its owner, the statement said.
The Renova Group's website, however, listed Columbus Nova as one of its companies as recently as last year.
