Donald Trump’s Panama Tower facing questions over links to alleged fraudster and Russian mafia 

Donald Trump, the US president
Donald Trump, the US president

Donald Trump’s business empire was in the firing line on Friday after claims that an accused fraudster flogged rooms in a Panama apartment block to Russian mafia figures. 

The US president agreed to lend his name and provide management services to the 70-floor tower, which was named the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower, in around 2005. 

However a key salesman of apartments there, Alexandre Ventura Nogueira, has since been charged with fraud and admitted some of his partners and investors had links to the “Russian mafia”.

It has led to questions over whether Mr Trump did enough to ensure the project was not used by customers to launder money. There is no suggestion Mr Trump was aware of any criminal activity.

The allegations surfaced in an investigation by the news agency Reuters and broadcaster NBC, as well as a report by the anti-corruption group Global Witness

Sales for the apartment block begun in 2006 and it opened in 2011. Mr Trump appears to have gained tens of millions from the deal before the project struggled after the global financial crash. 

Mr Trump wanted the project to be a “baby” for his daughter Ivanka to gain experience in property, according to a local developer quoted in the investigation. 

The Reuters report details numerous conversations between Ivanka Trump, who was handling the property, and Mr Nogueira, who was selling some of the apartments. 

Mr Nogueira, who was interviewed for the piece, said he spoke “a lot of times” with Ms Trump and that she was assigned to the project. 

But questions about who Mr Nogueira was selling the apartments to have now surfaced. 

Mr Nogueira said he learned some of his partners and investors were connected to the “Russian mafia” when the project was almost complete, according to Reuters. He said he had not knowingly laundered any money through the Trump project. 

Mr Nogueira is quoted as saying: “Nobody ever asked me. The banks didn’t ask. The developers didn’t ask. The Trump Organisation didn’t ask me. Nobody asked me: ‘Who are the customers? Where did the money come from?’”

Donald Trump and James Mattis, the US defence secretary
Donald Trump and James Mattis, the US defence secretary Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Complaints, including allegations of fraud in Trump Ocean Club sales, resulted in four criminal cases against Mr Nogueira in Panama, according to Reuters. One is said to have culminated in his arrest on fraud charges in May 2009.

In a series of comments quoted in the article, a spokesman for the Trump Organisation said connections between Mr Nogueira and the Trump family were “meaningless”.

The spokesman said the Trump Organisation “never had any contractual relationship or significant dealings” with Mr Nogueira. 

He added that the Trump Organisation’s role in the project “was at all times limited to licensing its brand and providing management services. As the company was not the owner or developer, it had no involvement in the sale of any units at the property.”

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