Felix Henry Sater (born Felix Mikhailovich Sheferovsky; russian: Фе́ликс Миха́йлович Шеферовский; March 2, 1966) is a Russian-American mobster,

convicted felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

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 or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He has been an advisor to corporations such as

The Trump Organization The Trump Organization is a group of about 500 business entities of which Donald Trump is the sole or principal owner. Around 250 of these entities use the Trump name. The organization was founded in 1927 by Donald Trump's paternal grandmother ...

, and the Mirax Group. In 1998, Sater pleaded guilty to his involvement in a $40 million stock fraud scheme orchestrated by the

Russian Mafia Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gr ...

, and became an informant for 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) 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 concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

schemes. During

Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign The 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump was formally launched on June 16, 2015, at Trump Tower in New York City. Trump was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election, having won the most state prim ...

, Sater worked with Michael Cohen, former attorney for The Trump Organization, to broker a deal to build a

Trump Tower Moscow Trump Tower Moscow, also known as the Moscow Project, was a series of proposals by the Trump Organization to develop a Trump skyscraper in Moscow, Russia, Russia. Michael Cohen (lawyer), Michael Cohen testified in February 2019; Donald Trump Jr. ...

, 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 The United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), also known as the House Intelligence Committee, is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Adam Schiff. It is the primary committ ...

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. Judge

I. Leo Glasser Israel Leo Glasser (born April 6, 1924), also known as I. Leo Glasser or Leo Glasser, is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Education and career Born in New York City, ...

confirmed that Sater helped the U.S. government track down

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...

as he provided the telephone number of Osama bin Laden.

Early life and family

Sater was born in Moscow into a

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

family, the son of Mikhail Sheferovsky and Rachel Sheferovskaya. He has a sister, Regina. The family emigrated to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

when Felix was 8 years old to avoid

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment 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 soc ...

in the Soviet Union, and eventually came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, living in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

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 its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, Mikhail Sheferovsky was an

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The underbo ...

for

"boss of bosses"

Semion Mogilevich Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich ( uk, Семен Юдкович Могилевич, Semén Yúdkovych Mohylévych ; born June 30, 1946) is a Ukrainian-born Russian organized crime boss. He quickly built a highly structured criminal organization, in ...

, and was convicted of extorting money from local restaurants, grocery stores, and a medical clinic. Felix Sater is reportedly a childhood friend of Michael Cohen.

Business and advisory career

Sater attended

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pac ...

, dropping out at the age of 18 to work on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

, initially as a cold-caller at

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was a New York-based global investment bank, securities trading and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 as part of the global financial crisis and recession, and was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chase. The compa ...

. He subsequently worked at brokerages

Ladenburg Thalmann Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services is a diversified financial services company with two primary business lines: independent brokerage and advisory and investment banking and capital markets. The company is engaged in investment banking, equit ...

, Broadchild Securities, Rooney Pace,

Shearson Shearson was the name of a series of investment banking and retail brokerage firms from 1902 until 1994, named for Edward ShearsonGruntal & Co., and

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

. 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 The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is a private American corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) that regulates member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA is the successor to the National Associati ...

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 Sergei Yurievich Polonsky (russian: link=no, Сергей Юрьевич Полонский; born 1 December 1972) is a Russian businessman. He is the owner and head of one of the largest real estate companies in Russia, Mirax Group (2004–2011 ...

Work with the Bayrock Group

Sater joined

Bayrock Group Bayrock Group is a private real estate investment and development firm specializing in luxury residential, commercial and mixed use projects. Through its affiliated entities, Bayrock has made investments in transactions comprising real estate as ...

LLC as a senior advisor in 2003 at the behest of the company's owner and founder,

Tevfik Arif Tevfik Arif (russian: Тофик Арифов; born May 1953), also known as Tofik Arifov, is a Russian/Turkish real estate developer and investor. He is the founder of the Bayrock Group, an international real estate development and investment com ...

. As a senior advisor, he assisted with several projects, including executive decisions in the

Trump SoHo The Dominick, formerly the Trump SoHo, is a $450 million, 46-story, 391-unit hotel condominium located at 246 Spring Street at the corner of Varick Street in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was announced in 2006, c ...

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 served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

and

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 is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

, New York City. The project was a collaboration between The Trump Organization, Bayrock Group LLC and

Tamir Sapir Tamir Sapir (born Temur Sepiashvili, ka, თემურ სეფიაშვილი; 1946/1947 – September 26, 2014) was a Georgia (country), Georgian-born, Georgian-American businessman, real estate developer and investor. He was the foun ...

. 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 Trump International Hotel & Residence was a proposed real estate development in Phoenix, Arizona. Background In 2004, prominent New York real estate developer Donald Trump proposed a $200 million luxury hotel-condominium development at 26th Stree ...

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 Midtown Miami is the collective term for the Wynwood and Edgewater neighborhoods of Miami, Florida. It is located north of Downtown and south of the Miami Design District and is roughly bound by North 20th Street to the south, I-195 to the nor ...

in Florida, and

Cornwall Terrace Cornwall Terrace (also 1-21 Cornwall Terrace) is a Grade I listed buildings in London, Grade I listed building of consecutive Terraced house, terraced mansions overlooking Regent's Park in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated at the p ...

and

1 Blackfriars One Blackfriars is a mixed-use development at No. 1 Blackfriars Road in Bankside, London. It is informally known as The Vase or The Boomerang due to its shape. Also nicknamed 'The Beer Gut' by Donald Dishington. The development is made up of a ...

in London. In addition to real estate development endeavors, Sater also has started businesses in the fields of philanthropy, investment, retail, and energy. In late January 2017, Sater met with Ukrainian politician

Andrey Artemenko Andy Victor Kuchma ( uk, Андрій Вікторович Артеменко, born 14 January 1969, Kyiv), formerly Andrii Viktorovych Artemenko, is a former Ukrainian politician and businessman. Andrii Viktorovych Artemenko was a People's Depu ...

and

's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, at the Loews Regency in Manhattan to discuss a plan to lift

sanctions against Russia Sanctions, economic or international, that have been imposed on Russia include: * International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War (2014–) ** Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, US legislation (2017) ** International sanc ...

. The proposed plan would require that Russian forces withdraw from eastern Ukraine and that Ukraine hold a referendum on whether

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

should be "leased" to Russia for 50 or 100 years. On 20 February 2017, Russian Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. Lavrov served as the Permanent Represe ...

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 (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. 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 and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

. 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 An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

, and spent 15 months in minimum security Edgecombe Correctional Facility in New York City before being

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

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 one dollar per share. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) uses the term "Penny stock" to refer to a security, a financial instrument which represents a ...

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, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price. Once the operat ...

scheme conducted by the

involving his company White Rock Partners. In return for a guilty plea, Sater agreed to assist the

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 Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Uni ...

, then the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in five New York counties: Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Nassau and Suffolk. The current U.S. Attorney is Breon ...

. 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 The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its membe ...

''. 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 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

. The ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', citing five sources with knowledge of the matter, reported that Sater had agreed to cooperate with investigators looking into an international

scheme involving

Viktor Khrapunov Viktor Vyacheslavovich Khrapunov (; born 24 November 1948) is a former Soviet and Kazakh politician who served as an Äkim of Almaty from 16 June 1997 to 9 December 2004, Äkim of East Kazakhstan Region from 9 December 2004 to 11 January 2007, ...

, a former government minister in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Khrapunov, who now lives in Switzerland, has been accused by the Kazakhstani government of

embezzling Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

millions of dollars and is wanted by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

. Sater received multiple subpoenas to produce documents and be deposed in the case against

Mukhtar Ablyazov Mukhtar Qabyluly Ablyazov ( kk, Мұхтар Қабылұлы Әблязов, ''Muhtar Qabyluly Ábliazov''; born 16 May 1963) is a Kazakh businessman and political activist who served as chairman of Bank Turan Alem (BTA Bank), and is a co-fou ...

who is alleged to have defrauded

BTA Bank BTA Bank ( kk, БТА; БТА Банкі; BTA Banki) (''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 bi ...

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.

Involvement with Trump Organization during presidential campaign

pursued a luxury hotel and condominium project in Moscow—dubbed the

—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 VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered in Saint Petersburg, St. Peter ...

, which was under sanctions by the United States government. ''

BuzzFeed News ''BuzzFeed News'' is an American news website published by BuzzFeed. It has published a number of high-profile scoops, including the Steele dossier, for which it was heavily criticized, and the FinCEN Files. Since its establishment in 2011, it ...

'' 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

ater Ater (Hebrew אֲתַר) is an Old Testament male name. #A descendant of Hezekiah, who returned from Babylon ; #An Israelite, who subscribed to Nehemiah’s covenant #A porter ; {{bibleverse, , Nehemiah, 7:45 Set index articles on Hebrew Bible ...

were 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 who has served as a U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented since 2013. Schiff's district (numbered as the 2 ...

, 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 Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

of Port Washington and was named their Man of the Year in 2010 and 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sater, Felix 1966 births American people convicted of assault American people convicted of fraud American people of Russian-Jewish descent American real estate businesspeople 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