Manafort-linked oligarch Dmitry Firtash's phone was tapped, and he's a flight risk.

[MelissaB]

Lawyer says extradition of oligarch tied to Trump campaign chief imminent

Billionaire Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash is at "great risk" of being brought from Austria to face justice in a Chicago courtroom "within weeks," his lawyer told a federal judge Monday.

But prosecutors say they are concerned that Firtash — who is wanted on racketeering charges and has ties to President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort — will jump on a private jet to Russia if a Chicago judge rules against him before he is handed over to U.S. authorities.

They revealed in court for the first time that they wiretapped telephone conversations in which Firtash allegedly discussed a co-defendant's trip to Chicago to meet with Boeing executives.

Firtash, who has friends in Russian President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin, has been fighting extradition from Austria since his high profile 2014 arrest in Vienna. Accused of masterminding an international titanium-mining racket involving Boeing, he claims he was targeted by the Obama administration as punishment for Putin's annexation of Crimea.

More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chicagoinc/ct-dmitry-firtash-inc-20170911-story.html

Let's see... Firtash's phone was tapped. Odds of Manafort's phone being tapped?

[Cracklin Charlie]

1. "A co-defendant's trip to Chicago..."

Co-defendant?
Boeing?

[3_Limes]

2. Indeed!

And it kinda makes sense. It takes an awful lot of titanium to build an airplane these days. And it's very expensive. And you can only get it from certain places. Especially if you need it in large quantities.

Boeing could have found themselves keeping some very unsavory company while shopping for this stuff.

I'd prefer not to see an American icon tarnished here, but I am very, very curious to learn more about this!

[Achilleaze]

3. Keep your eyes peeled for him while you hang out with your local republican high rollers

Dmitry Firtash:

[MelissaB]

4. RawStory is reporting thousands of intercepts

Federal investigators have ‘thousands of intercepts’ related to Ukranian oligarch with ties to Paul Manafort

Federal prosecutors on Friday told a judge the U.S. government has “thousands of intercepts” involving Dmitry Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch with ties to former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, the Chicago Tribune reports.

More: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/09/federal-investigators-have-thousands-of-intercepts-related-to-ukranian-oligarch-with-ties-to-paul-manafort/