Artem Uss - RBC: “Everything happened completely suddenly for me”

Businessman and son of the ex-governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Artem Uss, for whose capture a reward was assigned in America, passed through a lawyer answers to RBC’s questions about escaping from arrest and accusations of “conspiracy” by the United States Artem Uss Case in the usa and escape from Italy : what is Artem Uss famous for?

The 40-year-old son of the then governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (now senator) Alexander Uss, businessman Artem Uss, was detained in Italy in the fall of 2022 at the request of the United States. A month later, he was placed under house arrest, which the businessman served in a villa in the municipality of Basillo.

According to the US Department of Justice, Uss and several other Russians participated in schemes to sell oil from Venezuela using shell companies and cryptocurrencies. US authorities also suspect them of illegal exports and money laundering operations through the Hamburg-registered company Nord-Deutsche Industrieanlagenbau GmbH (NDA GmbH).

In RUSSIA, a case of money laundering has also been opened against Uss Jr.; After the arrest of the businessman in Milan, the Ministry of Internal Affairs put him on the wanted list, and the Meshchansky COURT arrested him in absentia. When Uss returned, the preventive measure was changed to a written undertaking not to leave the place.

In March 2023, after an Italian court approved the extradition of a Russian to the United States, he fled and returned to Russia. On December 5, the US State Department offered a reward of $7 million for information that would allow Uss to be apprehended.

About escape, special services and memes about a wizard

I'm a businessman, not a Bond hero. My first education is in law, and I saw the only opportunity to defend myself in court and was preparing for a long and possibly many years of struggle. In addition, the obvious politicization of the prosecution and the weak arguments of the prosecution also inspired optimism in me and my lawyers. That day I had a long meeting with them, since the next stage was coming up - cassation in the Supreme Court of Rome, and the next day a meeting was planned with the Russian consul.

There were still many months before possible extradition to the United States. There were rumors that they would allegedly try to illegally return me to prison to exert pressure, but I, of course, did not believe them. Surprisingly, these rumors were indeed publicly confirmed in statements by Italian officials, including the Prime Minister. Just imagine: during the new Cold War, decide to escape, being in the very center of Europe without air links with Russia in the jurisdiction of NATO, filled with American law enforcement officers. In the morning, hear the training take-offs of fighters, be subjected to checks by carabinieri, sometimes up to eight times day and night, who, like the United States, have the right to open fire to kill. This demotivates any adequate person.

In reality, everything happened completely suddenly for me, and I think this was the main reason that I am in Russia. Claims that “escape services” were allegedly paid for by me or my relatives while I was under house arrest are simply ridiculous.

Video

As for the true organizers or the participation of state intelligence services, I will not comment on speculation, since enough has already been said publicly. When the US authorities universally apply appropriate methods in the interests of their citizens, this is considered justified, they even proudly make films about it. Why then does Russia not have the right to respond in a mirror way if it deems it necessary? Let the WesternLaw enforcement officers establish the truth, although I think, as in my case, they absolutely do not need it. They successfully achieved their main goal - to turn my story into a large-scale political show and to screw over the gullible Western man in the street. Only in the Italian part of the Internet are there conspiracy theories about Russian spies and oligarchs, talk show videos and humorous memes in the style of a song about a wizard and his blue helicopter - there is some humor in this, and you can’t help but feel like a star.

RBC Pro development program Master 52 skills in a year The development program is a convenient tool for continuous learning new skills for a successful career How to create a plan so as not to quit halfway: 6 steps Why do challenges paralyze some managers and motivate others Are you tired of living according to someone else’s scenario? How to rewrite these settings yourself Think like Jeff Bezos . What algorithms do successful businessmen use? Make a breakthrough in your career: start listening to your body. There is no point in making a super product for months: 6 rules of the founder of “Vkusvill” Victim of perfectionism: why you shouldn’t try to do everything perfectly Why are you so scared to delegate. Explains The Economist Doesn't give advice and is indifferent to prestige: 3 types of magnet leaders If you're tired, downshifting is not the answer. How to save your career Norbit case: how we give feedback to colleagues using dice How to cope with severe anxiety in 2 minutes What American and Italian security forces reported about the escape

In December 2023, Europol carried out an operation in Italy, Croatia and Slovenia to apprehend those suspected of facilitating Uss' escape. The suspects include Bosnian-born father and son Vladimir and Boris Jovancic, Serbs Srdjan Lolić and Nebojsa Ilić, and Slovenian Matej Janezic. The Jovančićs were detained. According to US investigators, “Jovancic and other individuals associated with the Serbian organized crime group were recruited by Uss.” Jovancic met with Ussa’s wife at a hotel in Milan, she paid him €10 thousand, according to the American investigation.

The Bosnian first came to Uss, who was under house arrest, under the guise of delivery, the investigation claims. On the day of the escape, Jovancic “escorted Uss into the car and provided him with bolt cutters,” whichthe Russian used to get rid of an electronic tracking bracelet. Then Uss, according to American investigators, was taken to Slovenia. The group stayed there for several days, in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then crossed the border into Serbia. At the Serbian airport before departure, Uss paid Jovancic another €40 thousand, investigators say.

What is the basis for the “conspiracy” charge?

What happened came as a surprise to me. The affairs of the German company were handled by managing partner Yuri Orekhov, who in 2016–2017 invited me to become its second shareholder. As far as I know, the company was technically bankrupt in recent years, and I had practically no interest in its affairs.

Yuri Orekhov (Photo: from personal archive)

The main episode presented to me was payments made by certain Dubai companies in Hong Kong, where at the stage of the transaction the conversion into dollars was indicated, which thereby served as US Nexus. At the same time, it is clear from the text of the accusation that these companies had nothing to do with me. The United States used the popular construction Conspiracy, specific to its legal system. It differs significantly from our organized group: there is practically nothing to prove, and a personal acquaintance of the conspirators is enough. In general, the text of the accusation is unusual even by American standards and is more of a crime novel. The ability to put an owl on a globe is worth learning from our American colleagues, and in my case, splitting one count of accusation into four independent ones is generally aerobatics.

If we put aside the irony, the majority of our citizens, now traveling to Europe, do not realize that they are exposing themselves to enormous danger and ignoring the extreme degree of geopolitical tension with the West, as well as the manifoldly increased risks of criminal cases and arrests.

About other accused and the criminal case in Russia

In fact, I don’t know the vast majority of the people named in the indictment at all. The accusation using the wording “Conspiracy” presupposes this. I know for sure that Orekhov has been at large since at least August last year and Germany refused to extradite him to the United States.

At the same time, I exclude rumors about his alleged plea deal with American justice, since from the point of view of the legal process in the United States, this formalized procedure is usually impossible without participation in in-person court hearings in the country. In fact, the court in Germany, despite the pressure, probably showed a higher legal standard and refused extradition to the US due to the poor quality of the evidence and the lack of double criminalization. Germany is one of the few EU states with a high legal culture and real legal sovereignty. In addition, according to the Constitution, German citizens are protected from extradition to foreign countries.

I believe that information about this fact is deliberately hidden and not published so as not to discredit the US position. At the same time, the German register of companies contains data on Orekhov’s recent resignation from the shareholders of the German company and his resignation as a DIRECTOR. This is easily explained by his absence from the EU sanctions lists and the ability, unlike me, to carry out legally significant actions and transactions. I will not accuse the EU Council of double standards here - they have their own special political logic, although it is obvious to me that neither Orekhov nor I should be on these lists.

The criminal investigation in Russia, as far as I know, is ongoing, but I do not have the right to disclose any details of the preliminary investigation.

About the readiness of the “piece of pie”

It is impossible to prepare for such a development of events. You will never know about the non-public federal criminal charge that a US jury confirmed based on a couple of WhatsApp emojis, speculation and the eloquent speech of a prosecutor in a closed hearing somewhere in the Eastern District of New York or some other place where you have never even been.

At the same time, there are practically no qualified specialists on this issue in Russia, and in the West only a few firms will agree to work with Russian clients due to the same sanctions policy, which limits even the fundamental right to legal defense on criminal charges.

As they say in the USA, “bringing federal charges is as easy as getting a piece of the pie.” You yourself will painstakingly collect evidence against yourself in APPLE iCloud, WhatsApp and GOOGLE docs. The 4th Amendment of the US Constitution will not protect you. If you are not a US citizen, all IT infrastructure, as well as your personal information stored on it, is their property. President Biden has extended the FISA law on surveillance of foreign citizens, open sources talk about at least hundreds of thousands of targets of surveillance annually, but, apparently, many traveling Russians naively believe that this is not about them.

In current realities, almost any Russian citizen may be of interest for detention as part of the “formation of an exchange fund.” And the reason for this could be a relationship with a politically exposed person (PEP), work in the public sector or a large company, business abroad, especially in the field of foreign trade, and even more so if you are involved in parallel imports.

About detention at the airport and Italian prison

The detention took place at Malpensa airport in the duty-free zone before passport control and boarding the flight to Istanbul. A group of five people approached with a request to check the documents, two of them were in police uniforms. After presenting my passport, I was asked to go in for a conversation, and in a separate office, I was handcuffed and, after a search of my hand luggage, taken to prison.

Duty free area at Malpensa airport (Photo: elesi / Shutterstock)

During the process, a short order was presented in Italian, where I only understood the name of the company and that the request came from the United States. After about a week, I was able to obtain the original documents, understand exactly what I was accused of, and met with the lawyers. At first I thought about kidnapping, since I heard about numerous cases of extradition to the United States in exactly this illegal format.

In prison, especially in the first days, there was complete uncertainty; no one even spoke decent English. They could not establish my whereabouts for several days, and, apparently, no one proactively notified the Russian consul.

About cellmates

In prison there were many people from Muslim countries, but there were also former citizens of the CIS, including Ukrainians. There are significantly fewer native Italians in prisons in northern Italy, a reflection of the migration crisis. The cellmates were a Libyan and a Senegalese. Prison inmates and even some bailiffs expressed support and sympathy for me; they mostly spoke positively about Russia. Many were sincerely curious, some with whom I was able to explain were shocked that I did not own a yacht and that I drove a Ducati Hypermotard, and at sea I used a 4-seater RIB (rigid inflatable boat) from BWA.

On the “intimidation of elites” and the “exchange fund” of children

Court documents reveal some of the emergency requests from US diplomatic officials notifying me of my entry into and exit from Italy and requesting my arrest. I believe they tracked me through the Turkish Airlines booking and ticketing system. This system for many airlines is uniform and American - Amadeus. I didn’t plan specific dates for the trip, tickets were purchased at the last minute without prior registration, I didn’t have luggage with me, and I told practically no one about the trip itself and my plans.

The interagency US group Kleptocapture was created in March 2022. In August, an article appeared in the publication “Important Stories” (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent and an undesirable organization and banned) dedicated to me and my family members, and already in September an American indictment was hastily filed, classified until the moment of my arrest. This was followed by a loud press release from the US Department of Justice and an interview with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre with comments about the need for tough dialogue with the Russians for the exchange of prisoners and a direct reference to my situation.

I am convinced that the main motive was the taking of a hostage, which, according to the United States, would allegedly force our state to make some concessions, at least in the matter of exchanging American citizens detained in Russia. However, those who planned this action clearly miscalculated and showed poor knowledge of Russian history. Such actions, of course, should not and cannot lead to a change in positions, or, conversely, only to their tightening. On the territory of the EU, optional goals became the intimidation of Russian elites within the framework of the sanctions policy, as well as testing the new Italian government for loyalty to Washington and the political mobilization of the EU as a whole. I became a legitimate target and news item for the United States by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Now you can hear almost weekly about the detention of Russian citizens or foreigners associated with our country. But at that time it was one of the first purely sanctions cases. Almost simultaneously with me, Andrei Yakunin (businessman, son of the ex-head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin) was detained in Norway on flimsy grounds. There is an opinion that they tried to find something in the process, but in the end he was released.

How the Italian court decided on house arrest and extradition

The emotional background was the understanding that I probably wouldn’t see my family for many years. Of course, anger at the illegal detention and acute disappointment in the Italians, who organized a “legal safari” on their territory upon request. I think, given the scale of persecution of Russian business and private investment in Italy, many felt something similar.

Press conference at the Italian prosecutor's office after the arrest of those involved in the escape of Artem Ussa, Milan prosecutor Marcello Viola (center) (Photo: Stefano Porta / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press)

The extradition process itself was accompanied by obvious procedural anomalies and negative coverage of the topic in the media from the moment of detention. After the measure of house arrest, the judiciary was replaced, and the chief prosecutor of Milan, who came accompanied by security, joined the case. Before the court's decision, a search was carried out with the participation of the guardia finanza (a close analogue of the FBI), the likely purpose of which was to discredit house arrest and justify re-imprisonment.

In addition to the publicly available charges, the US authorities have not sent a single additional document or evidence for months, but the prosecutor and the court considered it possible to consider the application for extradition. The court ignored its own request on guarantees of rights and prisons - the US response was a dismissive “do you dare to doubt?” series. The court also completely rejected the position of the Milan prosecutor, who did not support the main US charge related to violation of sanctions, which is procedurally permissible for the court, but generally unique.

The text of the court decision itself, which we will definitely publish, looks like an oxymoron and refers not to Italian legislation, but to an EU resolution containing references to new sanctions against Russia, which have nothing to do with the case. The entire process was accompanied by colossal information and diplomatic pressure. Since my arrest, US representatives have constantly bombarded the Italian Ministry of Justice with letters and demands. An information campaign was simultaneously launched in the media to discredit me.

There was a feeling of a well-organized political show, where even the official text of the US accusations, with all its tendentiousness, was deliberately forgotten. This show is still going on. Its episodes include the anecdotal seizure of property, which, by the way, did not belong to me, under the counter-terrorism law (at the same time, the Italian authorities publicly admitted to trying to find any acceptable tricks for such a seizure), a discussion in parliament and a public apology from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice , an unprecedented punishment for judges in Italy (according to rumors, they were allegedly even fired and tried to be accused of corruption), of course, the recent also unprecedented demand for the extradition to the United States of the probable organizers of my so-called escape, as well as the announcement by the State Department of $7 million for assistance in my detention. I do not rule out that this story will become an element of the foreign policy agenda more than once.

At the same time, for comparison: Nadragenta killer Massimiliano Sestino killed police officers and twice escaped from house arrest. In 2013, he was detained in his swimming trunks while sunbathing on a beach in the province of Salerno, and during my arrest, after another escape, he used his brother’s documents, but was captured due to careless correspondence with a girl on social networks. This democratic measure of restriction itself undergoes a strength test literally every week in Italy, but does not cause such a hysterical reaction.

About charges for using the DOLLAR in payments

In the logic of the Western sanctions policy, any foreign economic activity involving Russia and its citizens must be stopped, and Russia must plunge into a deep economic crisis , which will cause social tension and the collapse of the country. Politicians at the highest level in the European Union and the United States have been directly stating this for a long time.

All parallel imports of products, as well as the EXPORT of Russian goods and raw materials to the foreign market, are essentially declared by the West to be organized criminal activity; criminal penalties are enshrined in the United States in the constantly expanding IEEPa codification with a sanction of up to 20 years in prison, and from December 2022 also in the European Union - up to five years in prison. IEEPa is nothing more than a veiled declaration of war against America's adversaries, in which Russia occupies one of the central places.

Trade with friendly countries that do not support sanctions could also be criminalized by the United States if a minimum jurisdictional hook, called the US Nexus, is found in the transactions. Many professional lawyers still mistakenly understand it as having a business or residence in the United States.

In fact, it is enough to make a payment or conversion in dollars, purchase a product or components that are produced in the USA, or conduct a transaction with a counterparty legal entity where there is an equity participation of Americans. Given the enormous size of the US economy and extensive financial and corporate connections, the presence of this element is ubiquitous and you may not even know it. Moreover, in the absence of even a minimal jurisdictional nexus, US federal courts can still charge any company or person using the catch-all language of threat to US national interests. Similar precedents also exist, and people serve sentences based on them.

Artem Uss (Photo: state.gov)

About the reasons why the USA became interested in Uss

I have a couple of versions that organically complement each other. My business partner lived in the West for a long time and was actively involved in foreign trade. Perhaps some of his previous contracts had previously interested the Americans and he was on their RADAR at the time we met him. The events of 2022 provoked a desire to find any grounds for my detention, and previous operational developments were mixed with new charges.

The second version, and it is especially depressing, is that data about me was received or compromised from Russia. Perhaps certain ill-wishers were able to obtain, systematize information and transfer it to American intelligence services, essentially suggesting the idea of ​​my detention. It is also obvious that certain regional online media, specializing in speculation, compromising material and custom-made defamatory materials, have in recent years fueled interest in me with their publications: a significant part of them, for example, served to justify my inclusion in EU sanctions.

Justifications for sanctions are often speculation on the Russian Internet, stuffing of anonymous TELEGRAM channels, etc. Nobody in the West checks even the minimal reliability of this information.

About Russian diplomats and the basements of the US Embassy

Russia is generally different in that, like the United States, it strives at a high level to ensure the protection of the rights of detained citizens, using, by the way, verbal interventions by senior officials. In such situations, EU countries do not care about their own citizens. Employees of the Russian Consulate in Milan visited me several times and helped me with various issues.

However, it is necessary to realistically assess Russia’s diplomatic capabilities on the territory of the European Union. They were limited in the past and have been reduced to a minimum now. American troops are officially stationed in Italy, and American law enforcement officers, in fact, operate freely in the country. Russia has a relatively small diplomatic corps in Milan, while the United States has a 7-story building, probably also with basements stuffed with special equipment and all other attributes of American diplomacy. Now diplomatic exchanges with Russia, especially in terms of legal interaction, are practically frozen, and from this, of course, only organized crime benefits. Individuals whose persecution may not have even a sign of political motivation, including those accused of violent crimes, can feel relatively safe in Italy in the event of requests from Russia.

Return to Russia and plans

It was a great human happiness for me to return to my homeland and see my family and loved ones. Moreover, this whole story was started to put pressure on them and my country for an indefinite period of time. I will, of course, prove my case in the European Court and try to organize my long-term legal defense in the United States, although I am well aware that in the current geopolitical conditions this will be incredibly difficult. As for work and business, there is something to do.

Artem Uss (Photo: from personal archive)

At the same time, I would definitely like to share my personal observations about the completely different structure of the Western world than is commonly believed - the unique legal experience and competence that I acquired in such an extraordinary way. Perhaps this will help someone in a similar situation. You will be surprised, but one of the foreign lawyers I know personally experienced extradition to the United States, and now successfully provides legal assistance in this area.

I hope that many of our citizens who were illegally convicted in the United States will be able to return to their homeland. Our state is doing a lot for this, and much more can be done by combining the efforts of caring people who have gained invaluable experience in this area. This will make it possible to achieve significant results in alleviating the plight of those in similar situations, including the fair and equal exchange of prisoners.