Irish businessman claims disgraced 1990s Russian oligarch linked to fraud

Mikhail Khodorkovsky made a fortune by cheaply acquiring assets in the 1990s and has long been a controversial figure

Irish businessman Raymond Quinn, a former compliance officer for a Wall Street securities firm, has claimed that he was defrauded of nearly $1.1 million (around €1 million) in a scheme allegedly linked to notorious ex-Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. 

Quinn has filed a High Court action in Dublin against the Garda Síochána [Irish police] Ombudsman Commission (GSOC). He contends that both himself and an oil magnate, the late Jack Grynberg, fell victim to a complex scam targeting their investments in US oil and gas ventures.

The alleged scam centers on financial dealings Quinn and Grynberg had with individuals whom Quinn claims were acting on behalf of Khodorkovsky. 

Known for his controversial acquisition of Yukos Oil Company in the 1990s through the “loans-for-shares” program, Khodorkovsky amassed a huge fortune before his high-profile 2003 arrest in Russia. Following a series of criminal convictions on charges including tax evasion and fraud, he was sentenced to prison and later pardoned by President Vladimir Putin.

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Now exiled in London, Khodorkovsky remains a contentious figure internationally. In December 2015, a Russian court issued an international arrest warrant for him, accusing him of ordering a murder.

Quinn asserts that in 2007 he and Grynberg were approached by an individual named Petteri Nieminen, who claimed to represent Russian oil and gas interests keen on investing in their Rocky Mountains oil project. Under Nieminen’s guidance, Quinn and Grynberg allegedly transferred close to $1 million to accounts in Singapore and Hong Kong to cover purported insurance premiums. 

The deal never materialized, and the funds disappeared. Additionally, Quinn claims he was contacted in 2015 by someone named Anthony Cohen, who purportedly represented a London law firm and sought more funds to “unlock” a trust account. After checking, Quinn discovered that Cohen was using the name of a retired solicitor and was deemed fraudulent by the Law Society of England and Wales.

Quinn’s initial complaint to Irish police in 2015 failed to trigger a criminal investigation. He then took the case to GSOC, alleging a cover-up and mishandling of the investigation. However, the ombudsman classified it as a disciplinary matter and referred it to a senior officer in the force rather than to an independent investigator. 

READ MORE: Russian court seizes $16 million from disgraced oligarchs

Quinn’s High Court action now challenges GSOC’s handling of the case, and Justice Conleth Bradley has granted him leave to seek a judicial review.

Khodorkovsky, who has denied involvement, is not a party to the Irish proceedings. 

However, his financial footprint has reached Ireland before; in 2016, the High Court in Dublin unfroze $100 million of his assets held in the country, funds tied up in Khodorkovsky’s global financial tangle.