Felix Henry Sater (born Felix Mikhailovich Sheferovsky;
; March 2, 1966) is a Russian-American mobster,
convicted felon,
real estate developer and former managing director of
Bayrock Group LLC, a real estate conglomerate based out of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He has been an advisor to corporations such as
The Trump Organization,
and the
Mirax Group.
In 1998, Sater pleaded guilty to his involvement in a $40 million stock fraud scheme orchestrated by the
Russian Mafia,
and became an informant for the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
(FBI) and federal prosecutors, assisting with organized crime investigations. In 2017, Sater agreed to cooperate with investigators into international
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
schemes.
During
Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Sater worked with
Michael Cohen, former attorney for The Trump Organization, to broker a deal to build a
Trump Tower Moscow, asserting to Cohen that he could boost Trump's election prospects through his Russian contacts. On June 21, 2019, Sater was issued a subpoena by the
House Intelligence Committee after he refused a request to testify voluntarily.
On July 9, 2019, Sater appeared before the House Intelligence Committee, but repeatedly withheld testimony and documents concerning the details of a false joint defense agreement and thus remains under subpoena.
Early life and family
Sater was born in Moscow into a
Russian Jewish family, the son of Mikhail Sheferovsky and Rachel Sheferovskaya. He has a sister, Regina. The family emigrated to
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
when Felix was 8 years old to avoid
religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within socie ...
in the Soviet Union, and eventually came to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, living in
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
before settling in
Brighton Beach, New York in 1974.
Felix and his sister adopted the surname Sater. Mikhail Sheferovsky (also known as Michael Sheferofsky) states that the family name was Saterov at some point (). According to the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
, Mikhail Sheferovsky was an
underboss
Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...
for
Russian Mafia "boss of bosses"
Semion Mogilevich
Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich (, ; , ; born June 30, 1946) is a Ukrainian-born Russian organized crime boss. He is described by agencies in the European Union and United States as the " boss of all bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates in th ...
, and was convicted of extorting money from local restaurants, grocery stores, and a medical clinic.
Felix Sater was reportedly a childhood friend of
Michael Cohen.
Business and advisory career
Sater attended
Pace University
Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...
, dropping out at the age of 18
to work on
Wall Street
Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
, initially as a
cold-caller at
Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...
.
He subsequently worked at brokerages
Ladenburg Thalmann, Broadchild Securities, Rooney Pace,
Shearson, Moseley Securities,
Gruntal & Co., and
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...
.
In 1991, he smashed a margarita glass in a bar and used it to stab a commodities broker in the face, causing the man to need 110 stitches.
For this, Sater was convicted of first-degree assault in 1993; spent 15 months in prison,
[ and was barred by the National Association of Securities Dealers from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with a broker-dealer firm.] In January 2022, Sater claimed that the barfight victim had tried to decline pressing charges, but that the U.S. government kept pressing because they wanted cooperation from Sater's father.
In 2008, Sater joined the board of the Russian real estate company Mirax Group, owned by Sergei Polonsky.
Work with the Bayrock Group
Sater joined Bayrock Group LLC as a senior advisor in 2003 at the behest of the company's owner and founder, Tevfik Arif. As a senior advisor, he assisted with several projects, including executive decisions in the Trump SoHo project. He left Bayrock Group LLC in 2008 after the New York Times disclosed his pending criminal case.
Trump SoHo
Felix Sater was a managing director of Bayrock Group LLC, as well as a senior advisor to Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
and The Trump Organization when construction of the Trump SoHo began in 2006.
He played a major role throughout the process of the building's construction, and remained managing director of Bayrock Group when the Trump SoHo project was completed in 2010. The building is a $450 million, 46-story, 391-unit hotel condominium located at 246 Spring Street in SoHo
SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...
, New York City. The project was a collaboration between The Trump Organization, Bayrock Group LLC and Tamir Sapir.
In December 2017, the Trump SoHo was renamed to The Dominick.
Other projects
Sater has been an advisor, investor, or developer in notable real estate projects including the Trump International Hotel & Residence in Phoenix, Arizona, the Conrad Fort Lauderdale
The Conrad Fort Lauderdale is a luxury condo hotel, condominium-hotel resort located on ocean-front property on Florida State Road A1A, North Fort Lauderdale Beach Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The resort includes 181 condo-hotel units, ...
and Midtown Miami in Florida, and Cornwall Terrace and 1 Blackfriars in London.
In addition to real estate development endeavors, Sater also has started businesses in the fields of investment, retail, and energy.
In late January 2017, Sater met with Ukrainian politician Andrey Artemenko and Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, at the Loews Regency in Manhattan to discuss a plan to lift sanctions against Russia. The proposed plan would require that Russian forces withdraw from eastern Ukraine and that Ukraine hold a referendum on whether Crimea
Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...
should be "leased" to Russia for 50 or 100 years. On 20 February 2017, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected Russia "leasing" Crimea from Ukraine claiming "we cannot rent from ourselves".
Criminal convictions and federal cooperation
Felix Sater has been described as a career criminal due to his links to organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
. In 1991, Sater got into an argument with a commodities broker at the El Rio Grande restaurant and bar in Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...
. He stabbed the man's cheek and neck with the stem of a cocktail glass, breaking his jaw, lacerating his face, and severing nerves, creating a wound that would require 110 stitches to treat. Sater was convicted of first degree assault
In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...
, and spent 15 months in minimum security Edgecombe Correctional Facility in New York City before being parole
Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
d. In 1998, Sater was convicted of fraud in connection to a $40 million penny stock
Penny stocks are common shares of small public companies that trade for less than five dollars per share. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) uses the term "penny stock" to refer to a security, a financial instrument which repr ...
pump and dump
Pump and dump (P&D) is a form of securities fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements (pump), in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price (dump). O ...
scheme conducted by the Russian Mafia involving his company White Rock Partners. In return for a guilty plea, Sater agreed to assist the FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
and federal prosecutors as an informant on organized crime. In 2009, he was sentenced to pay a $25,000 fine; he served no prison time and paid no restitution to his stock-fraud victims. As a result of his assistance, Sater's court records were sealed by Loretta Lynch, then the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Lynch's decision to seal his records, and the lack of any victim restitution, were discussed at her 2015 Congressional confirmation hearings to become attorney general; she stated that Sater provided "information crucial to national security and the conviction of over 20 individuals, including those responsible for committing massive financial fraud and members of '' La Cosa Nostra''. In 2006 there was a lawsuit that alleged that Sater made a death threat against a Bayrock investor named Ernie Menez. Sater threatened to have a man electrically shock Menez's genitals, cut off his legs, and have him put in the trunk of a car. Sater possibly did this because of Menez finding out about his past convictions and links to organized crime
Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...
.
The ''Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'', citing five sources with knowledge of the matter, reported that Sater had agreed to cooperate with investigators looking into an international money laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
scheme involving Viktor Khrapunov, a former government minister in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
. Khrapunov, who now lives in Switzerland, has been accused by the Kazakhstani government of embezzling millions of dollars and is wanted by Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...
.
Sater received multiple subpoenas to produce documents and be deposed in the case against Mukhtar Ablyazov who is alleged to have defrauded BTA Bank
BTA Bank () (''BTA Bank Joint-Stock Company'' in full) is a Kazakhstan bank with headquarters in Almaty. it was the third largest lender by assets. In 2009, BTA Bank was subject of one of the world's biggest financial frauds totaling US$5 bill ...
of up to $5 billion as chairman. Ablyazov's alleged fraud is one of the biggest cases of financial fraud in history.
In 2020 there was a lawsuit accusing Felix Sater and his partner Daniel Ridloff of using Trump properties such as Bayrock to launder millions of dollars in stolen funds. Sater has denied the allegations and has attempted to settle the suit but was not successful.
Role in the manhunt for Osama bin Laden
In December 2017, Sater was questioned by a congressional committee in an out-of-state interview about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
The Russian government conducted Foreign electoral intervention, foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, presidential campaign of Hillar ...
. In his opening statement to that interview, Sater claimed to be a confidential source for the U.S. Government who played an important role in providing intelligence related to the Northern Alliance and Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
, and locating and disrupting Al-Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
operations in Afghanistan as well as locating Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
prior to the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. Sater further claimed that he had been in a position to kill bin Laden in 1998 during a raid on a terrorist training camp inside Afghanistan and regretted his decision not to, a claim that was later confirmed by investigative journalists Jason Leopold
Jason Arthur Leopold (born October 7, 1969) is an American investigative reporter who writes for ''Bloomberg News''. He was previously an investigative reporter for ''BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed News,'' ''Al Jazeera America,'' and ''Vice News''. He work ...
and Anthony Cormier via U.S. intelligence officials with knowledge of the incident. In 2019, as part of a broader discussion with the House Intelligence Committee about his years-long cooperation with the FBI, CIA, and Defense Intelligence Agency, Sater formally testified to assisting the U.S. Government locate Osama Bin Laden. Judge I. Leo Glasser confirmed that Sater helped the U.S. government track down bin Laden as he provided the telephone number of Osama bin Laden. Sater had been in a position to access information related to bin Laden's phone numbers and whereabouts due to having been involved with a telecommunications company with ties to the GRU in the mid-1990s that operated in former Soviet bloc countries and sold transmission data to AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
.
Involvement with Trump Organization during presidential campaign
The Trump Organization pursued a luxury hotel and condominium project in Moscow—dubbed the Trump Tower Moscow—during the Trump presidential campaign. This project was facilitated by Michael Cohen, then an attorney for the Trump Organization, and from January 2016 to May 2017 Trump's personal attorney. Trump signed a nonbinding "letter of intent" dated October 13, 2015, to proceed with the project. The letter, also signed by Russian investor Andrei Rozov, was forwarded to Cohen by Sater. He boasted to Cohen about his connections to Vladimir Putin, saying in an email to Cohen on November 13, 2015, "Buddy our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins 'sic''team to buy in on this. I will manage this process." He also asserted that he had secured financing for the project through the Russian state-owned VTB Bank, which was under sanctions by the United States government. ''BuzzFeed News
''BuzzFeed News'' was an American news website published by BuzzFeed beginning in 2011. It ceased posting new hard news content in May 2023. It published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was strong ...
'' reported on March 12, 2018, that Mueller's investigators had questioned Sater, and on April 13, 2018, reported that a former Russian spy had helped secure financing for the project. In 2010, Sater was provided business cards describing himself as "Senior Advisor to Donald Trump" with an email address at TrumpOrg.com. In a 2013 sworn affidavit, Trump said "If aterwere sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn't know what he looked like," and in 2015 he stated "Felix Sater, boy, I have to even think about it. I'm not that familiar with him." Trump has been photographed several times with Sater, including while speaking privately with him.
Sater's anticipated public testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, scheduled for March 27, 2019, was postponed pending the imminent release of the Mueller Report. He was then rescheduled to give closed-door testimony on June 21, 2019. On June 21, 2019, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena to Sater after he skipped a testimony which he agreed to voluntarily. He later appeared before the House Intelligence Committee on July 9, 2019 during a closed door meeting which lasted for eight hours. Though Sater claimed that he cooperated and provided information about the Trump Tower project, Patrick Boland, spokesman for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...
, denied this and stated that Sater only partially cooperated and showed defiance by withholding requested testimony and documents concerning a real estate project which Sater acknowledged was falsely presented as a joint defense agreement between Trump and Russia and the telephone conversations pertaining to this agreement. Boland also stated that Sater will remain under subpoena until he cooperates with this request.
Personal life
His wife, Viktoria, is the founder and owner of a granola health food company. Felix Sater was a member of the Chabad of Port Washington and was named their Man of the Year in 2010 and 2014.
See also
* Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia
* Links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies
* '' Mueller Report''
* Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections
The Russian government conducted Foreign electoral intervention, foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, presidential campaign of Hillar ...
Further reading
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sater, Felix
1966 births
American people convicted of assault
American people convicted of fraud
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American businesspeople in real estate
Businesspeople from New York (state)
Businesspeople in construction
Living people
Jewish American gangsters
Pace University alumni
People from Port Washington, New York
Soviet Jews
Soviet emigrants to the United States
Russian businesspeople in the United States
21st-century American Jews
Bear Stearns people