Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova (russian: Елена Алексеевна Хусяйнова; born 1973 or 1974) is a Russian

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

based in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

who was charged in September 2018 with

conspiracy to defraud the United States Conspiracy against the United States, or conspiracy to defraud the United States,§ 92318 U.S.C. § 371—Conspiracy to Defraud the United States U.S. Department of Justice's ''United States Attorneys' Manual''. is a federal offense in the United ...

by interfering in the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections. She is accused of managing the finances of " Project Lakhta", a $35 million social media operation that used fake

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and other profiles to spread misinformation and discord. The crimes are alleged to have occurred from 2014 to 2018. Khusyaynova reacted to the indictment with irony about the ability of "a simple Russian woman" to "help the citizens of a

superpower A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural s ...

to elect their president". Project Lakhta was conducted by the

Internet Research Agency The Internet Research Agency (IRA; russian: Агентство интернет-исследований, translit=Agentstvo internet-issledovaniy), also known as ''Glavset'' (russian: link=no, Главсеть) and known in Russian Internet sla ...

and funded by various Concord Catering affiliates, under the direction of

Russian oligarch Russian oligarchs (Russian language, Russian: олигархи, Romanization of Russian, romanized: ''oligarkhi'') are business oligarchs of the Post-Soviet states, former Soviet republics who rapidly accumulated wealth in the 1990s via the Priv ...

Yevgeny Prigozhin Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin (russian: link=no, Евгений Викторович Пригожин; born 1 June 1961) is a Russian oligarch and close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin was called "Putin's chef" because h ...

. All were previously charged with related offenses as part of the

Special Counsel investigation In the United States, a special counsel (formerly called special prosecutor or independent counsel) is a lawyer appointed to Criminal investigation, investigate, and potentially prosecution, prosecute, a particular case of suspected wrongdoing fo ...

. The case was filed in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (in case citations, E.D. Va.) is one of two United States district courts serving the Commonwealth of Virginia. It has jurisdiction over the Northern Virginia, Hampton Roa ...

by the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

with assistance from the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI). The charges were not filed by the Special Counsel's office because the associated activities also related to the 2018 elections, which are out of Mueller's

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

. Khusyaynova is also the

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

of '' USA Really'', a conspiratorial website run by a Russian media executive and Kremlin policy adviser.

References

External links

Copy of the complaint

''USA Really'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khusyaynova, Elena Living people 1970s births Russian accountants Russians associated with interference in the 2016 United States elections

See also

References

External links