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By Drazen Jorgic

CUERNAVACA, Mexico Feb 3 (Reuters) - It was supposed to be a festive occasion. Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico´s annual Army day.Cuauhtémoc Blanco, a former Mexican soccer star and the state´s governor, celebrated with red wine. But he wasn´t happy.

Among those in attendance was state Attorney General Uriel Carmona - who had recently been asked by state legislators to investigate the governor´s suspected ties to drug traffickers.As Carmona moved to shake Blanco´s hand and bid him goodbye, the attorney general alleges, the governor grabbed his arm. Blanco said he´d been tipped off that another prosecutor was sniffing around his eldest son´s financial accounts.

A line had been crossed, the barrel-chested Blanco said, and warned: "Now I´m going to mess with your families, and I´m not going to hold back."

Carmona told the governor that he was leveling threats against law enforcement - a potential felony.He described the encounter in a criminal complaint, viewed by Reuters, filed two days later against Blanco with an independent state anti-corruption prosecutorial body.

The breakfast confrontation and the criminal complaint, which haven´t been previously reported, add to a cloud of scandal over one of Mexico´s most famous men - a legend on the soccer pitch, working-class hero and a rising star in politics.

The dust-up came just six weeks after Mexican newspaper El Sol de México published a photo of the governor posing with three alleged drug traffickers in Morelos. The headline on that front-page photo: "Blanco met with narco leaders in Morelos." The newspaper said the photo was found on the phone of a drug trafficker arrested by the military in November 2021.

The news outlet did not explain how it obtained the photo, and it´s not clear who shot it.

Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. The bombshell photo is what prompted state lawmakers to demand the investigation into Blanco in complaints filed with state and federal authorities in January 2022.One of the men in the undated image was Homero Figueroa, the purported leader of the Comando Tlahuica crime group. Another, Raymundo Castro, the alleged boss of the Guerreros Unidos cartel in Morelos, had been on the run from authorities since 2014. Reuters confirmed their identities with six law enforcement officials.

In an interview with Reuters, Blanco said Attorney General Carmona, who was appointed by the governor's predecessor, is a tool of his political enemies.He denied making death threats - or drinking wine at the breakfast.

"I´m not a drug trafficker," Blanco said in Cuernavaca´s colonial-era government palace building. As for the alleged warning to Carmona, he said: "I´m not so crazy or deranged as to threaten his family."

Blanco also denied knowing the trio in the photo and dismissed the picture as a routine snap with strangers at a public gathering.That assertion is not credible, two prosecutors and a third source in the state attorney general´s office told Reuters. They said the encounter captured in the photo occurred in a small room of a church complex near Cuernavaca capable of holding about ten people. Rival drug kingpins don´t tend to hobnob at casual mixers, the prosecutors said, and they would have traveled with so many armed guards that Blanco´s own security detail would have known something was amiss.

Blanco´s son, also named Cuauhtémoc, did not respond to requests for comment about the allegation that his finances were under scrutiny by law enforcement.He has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo - Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera - were unsuccessful. Castro, the third purported gangster, died in prison in 2019.

In many other countries, mingling with suspected drug traffickers might be a political death sentence.But Blanco´s career has prospered, in large part because he has a powerful backer: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The Mexican leader has transformed the nation´s political landscape in recent years, constructing an electoral juggernaut with his Morena party, which has grabbed power from established parties.His populist pitch to clean up Mexico´s corrupt politics has won him poll ratings that are some of the highest in the world for a national leader.

López Obrador repeatedly has ignored controversy swirling around Blanco, whose athletic achievements and rags-to-riches story have proved electoral gold in soccer-obsessed Mexico.If you treasured this article and you also would like to be given more info about eVdEN eVE NaKliYaT nicely visit our own webpage. Their alliance dates to the 2018 national elections. Then-presidential candidate López Obrador backed Blanco´s bid for the Morelos governorship, recognizing the ex-player´s appeal, particularly among poor voters at the core of both men´s power base.

The president´s office did not respond to requests for comment for this report.

The probe of Blanco´s suspected cartel ties comes on top of multiple corruption investigations into his activities as a public servant.The inquiries began with his first elected office as mayor of the picturesque colonial city of Cuernavaca from January 2016 to July 2018. On Blanco´s watch, control of the city´s water utility and its cash receipts ended up in the hands of Figueroa, the alleged mobster with his arm around Blanco in the photo, according to Morelos prosecutors, military intelligence documents viewed by Reuters and interviews with five people who worked for the utility.

Blanco said the water utility was "fine" during his tenure and its debts went down, though the utility´s official figures contradict this.

Prosecutors also discovered more than $2 million stashed in four undeclared bank accounts belonging to Blanco, according to a non-public document filed by prosecutors with the Morelos legislature on April 18, 2022, which was viewed by Reuters.The news agency is the first to report on these bank accounts, one of them in the United States. Blanco did not list the accounts on asset disclosures required of all Mexican public officials.

Blanco confirmed the existence of the four accounts to Reuters."I´ve got an account in the United States. What´s the problem?" Blanco said. Initially, he claimed to have declared them, but when pressed, the governor said he didn´t publicly divulge these assets due to "security" concerns.

He also revealed he has a flat in Chicago, which is undeclared, that he said he is selling.Local property records show Blanco owns a condominium just steps away from the city´s famed Michigan Avenue shopping district, purchased for $450,000 in August 2007.

Blanco said the source of his wealth is money he earned as a footballer, including being paid up to $1 million for commercials when he played professionally in the United States.Blanco played for Major League Soccer´s Chicago Fire from 2007 to 2009.

He said he is happy to have the information about his assets out there so he can "shut the mouths of those assholes."

"I´ve got nothing to hide," he said.

Through it all, López Obrador has consistently defended Blanco, calling local government investigations against him "political maneuvering" by his enemies."They don´t stop attacking, but I support him," López Obrador said last year.

Blanco, like all elected officials in Mexico, enjoys immunity from prosecution while in office. He has not been charged with any crime.

Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield.But state lawmakers aligned with López Obrador have stymied those efforts. In September, the ex-soccer star ditched his Social Encounter Party to join the president´s Morena.

Blanco´s political career may yet hit new heights.In Morelos, he is being touted as a possible Morena candidate for the 2024 race to be mayor of Mexico City, one of the country´s most influential offices. Blanco said running for mayor is a possibility, but it would depend on his poll ratings, and he would need "authorization" from López Obrador.

Two government officials and a Morena party politician familiar with the situation told Reuters they doubt Blanco can leapfrog more experienced rivals to win the nod from his new party.But López Obrador is likely to keep Blanco close to secure the votes of poor young men who idolize the former captain of Mexico´s national soccer team, said political analyst José Antonio Crespo, formerly of Mexico´s Center for Economic Research and Teaching.

"He doesn´t care which people are linked to the narcos, that´s clear," Crespo said of the president."What´s important to him is winning. It doesn´t matter how or with whom."

FROM THE SLUMS TO THE STATEHOUSE

Blanco, 50, is one of Mexico´s all-time sports greats. After breaking through in the early 1990s with Club América, the country´s most successful soccer team, the pugnacious attacker quickly became a fan favorite.Supporters adored his style, melding combativeness with silky smooth dribbling skills.

At the 1998 World Cup in France, he awed fans with his signature "Cuauhtemiña" move: trapping the ball between his legs and jumping between two defenders.Even his name dazzled. Cuauhtémoc was the last Aztec emperor, a warrior whose name signifies the "descending eagle" dive-bombing its prey.

Blanco grew up in Mexico City´s Tepito neighborhood, one of Latin America´s most notorious slums, where he honed his toughness and EvDeN eVe NAkliyaT street smarts.In a 2015 ESPN interview he recalled peddling pirated cassette tapes as a kid. He would go on to earn millions playing for clubs in Spain and the United States. Tabloids lapped up his party-animal persona and combustible relationships with models and telenovela stars.

In 2014, as age and injuries forced Blanco to contemplate retirement, two little-known politicians in Cuernavaca say they approached him with a proposal.Brothers Roberto and Julio Yáñez, who at the time ran the small Social Democratic Party, wanted to harness Blanco´s fame to wrest the mayor´s office from established parties.

The brothers told Reuters that Blanco at first resisted their overtures to run for election, telling them he "hates politics." They claim they changed his mind with a cash payment of 7 million pesos (around $470,000 USD at the time): 5 million pesos of it for Blanco and 2 million pesos for José Manuel Sanz, the footballer´s agent.The Yáñezes said the money was put up by a group of businessmen who wanted access to the mayor and to secure public contracts if Blanco won. The Yáñezes declined to name the businessmen.

Blanco said he was approached by the Yáñezes about entering the mayoral race and mulled the idea for a month before committing because he disliked politics.But he said no money changed hands and that there was no contract. "It´s totally a lie," Blanco said, in reference to the Yáñezes´ allegations, first reported by Mexican media in 2016.

Sanz likewise denied receiving kickbacks."It´s false," he said of the Yáñezes´ claims.

Roberto Yáñez showed Reuters a signed copy of Blanco´s contract laying out expectations for the candidate´s run. The soccer star was instructed to pose for photos with prospective voters, dash off autographs and greet women with a kiss, according to the document, which Blanco has claimed is fake.

What´s undisputed is that Blanco was a sensation on the campaign trail.Voters queued for hours to snatch selfies and get soccer balls signed, ultimately carrying him to victory over more seasoned competitors. "I fucked them over," he crowed on election night in June 2015.

Blanco quickly adopted some practices of his predecessors.He doled out top jobs to friends and family. He established alleged links with drug traffickers, according to two prosecutors and 2019 military intelligence documents seen by Reuters. And he significantly worsened the fortunes of SAPAC, Cuernavaca´s water utility, according to former agency head Remigio Alvarez and five current SAPAC employees.

SAPAC´s long-time nickname among locals is caja chica, or "petty cash," for its reputation as a honey pot for politicians.Blanco´s arrival signaled a new era for the utility, alleged ex-chief Alvarez, opening the door to organized crime. "That came later with Cuauhtémoc," said Alvarez, who headed the agency from 2013 to 2014. He provided no documents or other evidence to back up his claims.

Blanco denied allowing organized crime to flourish at SAPAC."It´s not true," he said.

His alleged collusion with organized crime is emblematic of what Mexican authorities say is a wider shift across Mexico in recent years. Groups that once focused almost solely on narcotics are diversifying how they make and move money, spreading into almost every corner of Mexican society.

Morelos prosecutors told Reuters they believe Blanco "delivered" control of SAPAC to Figueroa, the alleged head of the Comando Tlahuica cartel.They say Figueroa skimmed cash payments from utility customers and paid kickbacks to the mayor for the privilege. The five SAPAC employees who spoke with Reuters described a takeover by the gangster.

Starting around 2016, the five said, more than a dozen armed men working on behalf of Figueroa suddenly appeared at the utility´s headquarters.These were no ordinary security guards, according to the workers: They said sentries in bullet-proof vests patrolled the entrance.

Inside, men in civilian clothes watched over cashiers´ windows where water customers lined up to pay their bills in cash.Many clients had no choice but to do so, the employees said, after SAPAC that year eliminated the option to pay by debit card or at convenience stores. Three Cuernavaca residents confirmed this reduction in payment options, which they said were restored after about a year.

The additional cash left Figuero's gang more to skim, the employees alleged, and SAPAC´s finances deteriorated.The utility slowed payments to vendors and fell behind on paying employees´ health insurance and payroll taxes. During Blanco´s tenure as mayor, the utility´s known debt increased 58% to 403 million pesos ($21.6 million) by the end of 2018, according to a public SAPAC document.

Figueroa also warned two employee unions operating at SAPAC that he would brook no dissent, the five employees said.They recounted that during a 2017 labor dispute, the alleged mobster sent men to beat up one syndicate leader. Separately, Figueroa phoned SAPAC headquarters and asked to talk with another trade union chief on speakerphone, so that other staffers could hear him deliver a threat, two of the employees said.

"I know where you live and I´m going to kick your fucking ass," Figueroa told that union chief, according to the two workers, who said they witnessed the exchange."If you don´t drop your demands, we are going to disappear you." The syndicate leaders backed down and kept quiet, the workers said.

Reuters could not independently verify the workers´ account of events.

Figueroa could not be reached for comment.

When Blanco stepped down in July 2018 to run for governor, his successor as mayor, Antonio Villalobos, refused to honor Blanco´s suspected agreement with the Comando Tlahuica cartel, according to a military intelligence document viewed by Reuters.Instead, individuals linked to other mafia moved to seize control of the utility from Figueroa, the five SAPAC employees told Reuters.

At least four people linked to SAPAC have died violently in the past four years in turf battles over the water service, three Morelos officials told Reuters.Villalobos was arrested in September and charged with abuse of office over alleged corruption at SAPAC. He remains in jail.

Villalobos could not be reached for comment and Reuters could not ascertain whether he entered a plea. Neither his attorney or a family member responded to requests for comment.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

Blanco´s stint as mayor was widely panned by political commentators.Still, as national elections loomed in 2018, presidential candidate López Obrador chose Blanco over his own party´s contender to run as governor of Morelos on a coalition slate. By this time, Blanco had left the Social Democratic Party for the Social Encounter Party.

"He likes me very much because I´m not a politician," Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

Once elected, Blanco again dished out top jobs to friends and family.Sanz, his former sports agent, continued as his chief of staff. The governor placed buddy and ex-soccer player Luis Hernández Mondragón in charge of the Acquisitions Office, overseeing procurement of goods and services worth tens of millions of dollars.

Hernández told Reuters via WhatsApp that the post required someone with the "full confidence" of Blanco to fight corruption. He said was given the job because he "always acted with honesty and morality."

Some staffers took to calling Blanco the "absent governor." In his first year on the job, Blanco´s official calendar showed no work activities on 207 out of 365 days, according to a freedom of information request by a local accountability organization, Morelos Rinde Cuentas."As a footballer he got used to playing on Sundays and not working Mondays," a former Blanco staffer told Reuters.

Blanco dismissed claims of his indolence as an unjust smear attempt by his critics.

Scandals soon rocked Blanco´s government.In March 2020, Mexico´s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), which investigates suspected financial crimes, in a news conference said that it was scrutinizing members of Blanco´s inner circle. The UIF claimed to have uncovered about 750 million pesos ($40.2 million) in irregular banking transactions, including huge cash deposits, executed by then-Chief of Staff Sanz, three family members and two other associates, UIF documents viewed by Reuters show.

The UIF that month handed its evidence to the federal Office of the Attorney General (FGR), headed by Alejandro Gertz, and asked prosecutors to take up the case, according to that non-public 93-page UIF document reviewed by Reuters.

Between 2014 and 2019, individuals close to Blanco had made bank deposits and transactions that investigators concluded likely originated "from illicit activity," the report said.The purpose of the alleged scheme, the document said, was to hide the origin or ownership of the assets.

Federal prosecutors verified most of the suspect transactions unearthed by UIF investigators, according to nearly 200 pages of non-public FGR documents reviewed by Reuters.No charges have been filed, and the case has stalled for unknown reasons, according to a source familiar with the probe.

Gertz, the attorney general, did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the investigation.

Sanz denied wrongdoing.He told Reuters the federal investigation "is now over" and he had been "exonerated," claims that have not been confirmed by prosecutors.

Blanco, too, denied wrongdoing. "I´m clean," he said in the interview.

More allegations soon surfaced.In September 2021, Gerardo Becerra, the official anti-corruption advisor to Blanco, quit the government and publicly alleged widespread graft relating to public contracting. Becerra said he stepped down because the administration was not interested in stopping it.

"I started to get all the information about the corruption of the government of Cuauhtémoc Blanco," he said."They stopped me, they didn´t like it."

Becerra did not specify who in Blanco´s administration allegedly kept him from doing his job.

He told Reuters he filed a confidential complaint to Morelos´ anti-corruption prosecutorial body alleging that 96% of contracts handed out during Blanco´s tenure were no-bid deals that violated state law.Morelos law requires a minimum of three bidders to ensure competition.

Blanco denied Becerra´s claims, saying they are "not true."

Hernández, Blanco´s procurement chief, did not respond to a request for comment on Becerra´s allegations.

Local prosecutors digging into corruption allegations against the governor uncovered three undeclared Mexican bank accounts belonging to Blanco containing a total of 16 million Mexican pesos ($858,000).They also found a U.S. bank account with $1.25 million (23.3 million pesos), according to the non-public documents filed by prosecutors with the Morelos state congress in April 2022 asking lawmakers to impeach Blanco.

In their request, prosecutors accused Blanco of illegal enrichment and alleged that his "assets have increased in an important and inexplicable manner" during his stint as a public servant.

Days later, López Obrador publicly backed Blanco.And local lawmakers from Blanco´s Morena party, helped by a handful of allies from other parties, blocked the impeachment.

In August 2022, Blanco´s brother Ulises Bravo Molina was placed in charge of the local branch of López Obrador´s Morena party in Morelos.The following month, Blanco switched parties, saying he joined Morena with "pride, gratitude and determination".

`ABSOLUTE IMPUNITY´

September 2022 brought a new source for public speculation about Blanco and the alleged drug traffickers who posed with him in the now-famous photo.

That month, the Latin American hacker group Guacamaya leaked a trove of classified documents from the Mexican military.Among them was a February 2019 Navy intelligence report, reviewed by Reuters, which stated that it was possible that Blanco was "colluding" with the Comando Tlahuica gang and its purported head, evdEn EVE nAkLiYat Figueroa.

Mexico´s Navy did not respond to a request for comment.Figueroa could not be reached for comment.

Another document in that cache, a May 2019 Mexican Army memo, referenced the two other alleged drug traffickers shown in the undated photo with Blanco: Raymundo Castro, the Morelos boss of the Guerreros Unidos cartel, and his cartel colleague Irving Solano Vera.

The memo summarized a conversation Solano had with a Mexican Army intelligence agent shortly after the May 2019 capture of Castro by federal police.Solano told the army that Castro had cut a deal with Blanco: Guerreros Unidos could act with "absolute impunity" in Morelos if Castro backed the governor´s political campaign and kept violence low on his turf, Solano alleged.

Castro was killed in a prison brawl in October 2019, according to authorities.Solano was captured by the Mexican military in February 2021. He is believed to be in a maximum-security lock-up and could not be reached for comment. Reuters was unable to determine the identity of his legal counsel. Names of his attorneys were not listed in court records viewed by Reuters, a common practice in Mexico in drug trafficking cases due to security concerns.

Three Mexican security officials told Reuters that Castro and Solano also worked alongside the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which has a partnership with Guerreros Unidos.U.S. authorities rank Jalisco New Generation among the world´s most dangerous transnational crime organizations. They blame it for flooding the United States with fentanyl and other synthetic drugs that kill tens of thousands of Americans every year.

Blanco stood defiant amid a flood of disparaging news coverage following the leaks."He who has nothing to hide, has nothing to fear," Blanco said in an Oct. 10, 2022 statement. "Let them investigate."

In Cuernavaca, the state´s one-time tourist hotspot, many fearful residents now scurry home before dark. In Blanco´s four years as Morelos governor, homicides in the state increased by 50% to 1,174 in 2022 from 783 in 2018, federal government data show.In the same period, murders declined 8.2% nationally.

On a park bench in Cuernavaca, Marcelo Rocha, a 71-year-old pensioner, complained of crime and water shortages plaguing his neighborhood. He said he regrets voting for Blanco.

"He has failed us a lot," Rocha said.

Blanco dismissed any notion that he´s on the side of alleged traffickers in the photo or any other outlaws.He told Reuters he´s working to bring alleged kingpin Figueroa to justice.

"I have never entered into a pact with drug traffickers or criminals," Blanco said. "I´m not a damn criminal, a crook or a bad person. I´m a well-mannered man of principles." ($1 = 18.6527 Mexican pesos) (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; Additional reporting by Mike Berens in Chicago; and Dave Graham, Stephen Eisenhammer, Diego Oré and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Marla Dickerson)

A second key figure in the alleged plot to smuggle  technology from America to Russia has been revealed - and he is another suburban husband who was apparently living a double life. 

Vadim Yermolenko, 41 lives in a luxury $1m, four-bedroom, four-bathroom  home with his glamorous wife and their young children, DailyMail.com can disclose.

His identity can now be disclosed after it emerged that another accused member of the conspiracy, , runs an online craft store in with his wife.

Yarmolenko and Brayman, who were indicted Tuesday then released after posting bail, allegedly helped supply Russia with technology that can be used in nuclear and hypersonic weapons.The scheme was part of a sophisticated plot orchestrated by the country's security services, prosecutors say.

The elaborate smuggling network, which spanned several continents, has been likened to the plot of a wild espionage drama.

Away from Yermolenko's alleged role in the shadowy 'Serniya Network,' which is controlled by spymasters in Moscow, he maintains the image of a loving family man in a leafy middle-class suburb of million-dollar homes.

He lives with his wife, Diana, and their three young children in a desirable four-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Yermolenko, a U.S. citizen, and Brayman, an Israeli citizen born in Ukraine, are named in an indictment which was unsealed Tuesday when both appeared in court charged over the plot.

Yermolenko, represented by a federal defender, was released after posting $500,000 bail, using his family home as security.If you have any kind of inquiries pertaining to where and ways to utilize evDEn eVE NakliYaT, you can call us at our own website. Brayman was also released on $150,000 bail and subject to electronic monitoring. Both men were told to surrender their passports.

Yermolenko and his wife are both from Russia, according to their social media profiles.

Diana's Facebook and Instagram posts paint them as a loving family who enjoy a jet-set lifestyle, holidaying in sun-soaked destinations across Europe and the U.S.The couple, who married in July 2011, also take frequent trips to St Petersburg.

Diana, from Mirny in Russia's Sakha Republic, regularly posts proud photos of her family, including pictures of her eldest daughter figure skating.

Yermolenko's profile says he is the founder of Divatek, a New Jersey-based company which sells cell phones and other electronic devices.

He says he studied at Dante Alighieri, in St Petersburg, an 'international society founded to promote Italian language and culture throughout the world.'

But prosecutors allege, that behind the image of a family man and successful entrepreneur, Yermolenko helped the Serniya Network 'acquire sensitive military and dual use technologies for the Russian military, defense sector and research institutions.'

Dual use technology is equipment like semiconductors and other sophisticated instruments that can be used in both civilian and military products.It is key to maintaining , which has cost the lives of thousands of civilians - and massively depleted Moscow's stocks of weaponry.

Yermolenko is accused of playing a key role in getting equipment worth millions of dollars to fellow family man Brayman, who then shipped it to Europe before it was smuggled into Russia.

Yermolenko deployed deceptive and fraudulent tactics to open shell companies and eVDEN evE NAKliYaT bank accounts in order to mask the reason for the purchases and destination of the products, it is claimed.

With Brayman, he would alter, forge, and destroy shipping documents, invoices and other business records to unlawfully export items from the United States.

The indictment against Yermolenko says he even provided his wife's signature 'to use on IRS documents for company applications and applications to open U.S.Bank Accounts.'

Diana Yermolenko is not charged with any crimes.

The equipment that was trafficked in the conspiracy is sensitive and highly-regulated. The U.S. and evDEN eve nAkLiyAt other countries have imposed strict sanctions designed to prevent Russia from obtaining such 'critical western technology.'

Yermolenko allegedly worked with a Russia-based defendant called Boris Livshits, a 52-year-old from St Petersburg.

Livshits took requests for EVdEN EVE naKLiYAT sensitive items from the Serniya Network and then obtained them from U.S.businesses using front companies, forged paperwork and other deceptive tactics.

Those items were then trafficked out of the U.S. with help from Yermolenko and Brayman, authorities say.

On one occasion, Livshits ordered Yermolenko to 'throw away the invoice' for an order.Another email reveals he instructed Yermolenko to tell a bank that payments were for 'bicycle spare parts, sporting goods and textile products.'

Prosecutors also revealed the vast web of the supply chain which carried the technology into Russia. Common intermediary countries included locations in Estonia, Finland, Germany and Hong Kong.

Brayman and Yermolenko allegedly delivered some of the items to Vadim Konoshchenok, 48, a Russian based in Estonia, who moved them across the border.

Konoshchenok describes himself in communications obtained by authorities as a Colonel in the FSB, Russia's federal security service and the successor to the KGB, according to prosecutors.

As well as moving the technology, Konoshchenok 'repeatedly' attempted to smuggle tens of thousands of rounds of US-made ammunition across the Estonian border into Russia, including sniper rifle rounds and military grade .223 rounds.

Prosecutors say the seven defendants named in the indictment, which was unsealed yesterday, participated in 'a transnational fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion scheme controlled by a foreign power that is actively engaged in armed conflict'.

It looks like , evdEN eve naKLiYat 67, has found a love match with 60-year-old fellow tennis buff Paula Hurd, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Hurd is the widow of former Oracle co-CEO and president Mark Hurd, who died at the age of 62 in 2019 after a reported battle with . 

'They're inseparable,' a friend of the couple tells DailyMail.com. 

'They've been together over a year and she's always described as a "mystery woman," but it's no mystery to their inner circle that they're in a romantic relationship.'

Once a tech executive herself, Hurd is now an event planner and organizer, and philanthropist. 

Her late husband, who spent most of his career at tech company NCR and later Hewlett-Packard before joining Oracle in 2010, had an estimated net worth of $500million at the time of his death. 

And it's no surprise that the paths of the Microsoft founder and Oracle executive -both prominent Silicon Valley figures - and his wife had crossed over the years. 

Mark, a former college tennis scholar, and Paula were even pictured behind Gates at a tennis match in California in 2015. 

But last month, it was Paula and Bill who were matched together when they were seen watching the Men's Singles Final together at the Australian Open in Melbourne during a trip Down Under. 

The pair also traveled up to Sydney where the billionaire met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Gates and Hurd took the opportunity to take a romantic stroll around the city as they stopped to admire the panoramic views of the harbor and check out the famed Opera House.

Photos of the two taking in the sights were published at the time, but Hurd had not been identified. 

It's likely the couple may have bonded over their love of tennis.

Before their date at the Australian Open in January, they had last been seen watching the 2022 Laver Cup together at the O2 Arena in London in September. 

The avid sports fans were also photographed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California as far back as October 2021, however, they had been sitting a few rows away from each other at the time. If you loved this posting and you would like to receive far more data with regards to eVDEN eve NakLiyat kindly pay a visit to our web-site.  

Paula, whose maiden name is Kalupa, was working as an NCR executive in 1990 when she married her late husband, who spent 25 years climbing up the ranks at the company.

The couple, who were based in San Mateo County, shared two daughters, Kathryn and Kelly. 

The Hurds were longtime donors to Mark's alma mater Baylor University where they contributed a lead gift to kick off its $1.1billion philanthropic campaign in 2018. 

The generous donation helped fund a brand new $60million welcome center named after the couple is set to open on campus later this year. 

Despite earning her marketing degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984, eVden EvE naKLiYAt Paula joined her husband in making major contributions to Baylor, such as supporting the university's national championship tennis program. 

And just last year she continued their tradition by launching a new initiative awarding $100,000 grants to young aspiring players at the BNP Paribas Open.

The program was announced on March 14 and just four days later, Paula and Bill would be pictured together watching the Women's Tennis Association semifinal match in Indian Wells. 

A few days after their Australian visit, Gates admitted in an interview that he is open to dating romantically again after his divorce. 

When asked whether he would like to find love again in a sit-down with the during his visit to Kenya last week, he answered: 'Sure, I'm not a robot.'

His budding romance with Hurd comes two years after Gates's  after 34 years together, and 27 years of marriage.

Gates' ex-wife, and mother to their three children, previously opened up about her 'unbelievably painful' divorce and explained that she 'just couldn't stay in that marriage anymore'.

Melinda French Gates told Fortune magazine in October that the Covid-19 pandemic helped give her the 'privacy to do what she needed to do.'

She also said in 2021 that her husband's affair with a Microsoft employee in 2000 had broken the 'trust' in their marriage.

She described how she sobbed on the floor as her marriage fell apart, having never thought that the relationship would end in divorce. 

The couple's divorce settlement is America's second-most expensive ever after Jeff Bezos' $38.3billion split with ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos. 

During the pandemic, delivery drivers became heroes overnight.They rendered it unnecessary to venture outside to the Co-op, where the shop assistant, shielded from you by a huge Perspex screen, would then lick her fingers to open your carrier bag.

In the darkest depths of , online shopping seemed to be our national saviour.

I'm certain at one point we were encouraged to clap for delivery drivers, evdeN eve NakLiYAT along with health workers and the men who collect the recycling even if they sometimes manage to leave a few bottle tops, cardboard boxes and yogurt pots as a sort of dirty protest.

And I'm such a loyal customer, I must have been photographed in just knickers and thick socks more often than as proof that my parcel has been delivered.

So it saddens me to say that I am now at war with my delivery drivers.These former angels of furlough - who gamely brought those idle Amazon purchases right to our front doors, without consideration for their personal safety - have become as hopeless as our striking posties.

Even the generally nice man from Waitrose.Now that supermarket deliveries are made sans carrier bags, he thinks nothing of solemnly handing me my box of black hair dye. It's all so familiar and disdainful. I swear that one day he is going to say, sotto voce: ‘Wouldn't a dark brown, and semi-permanent, be more suitable?'

Last week, some other idiot delivery man knocked on the door, then just stood there, mute.

‘Speak, man!' I said, above the noise of my dogs' barking.

‘Is this number three?' he said.I pointed to the big number eight on the front door.

‘Molly?' he said, trying his luck again.

‘No!' It was clearly a Valentine's gift. ‘Do I look like I have a boyfriend?'

‘Frankly, no,' he said, shuffling away.

My postman is no better.He knows he sets off my dogs, but still insists on delivering leaflets for funerals and Sky Glass tellies. Whenever he brings me a parcel, I ask him: ‘Something interesting?'

‘I doubt it,' he replies, deadpan.

What's got into delivery men? And my postwoman, for that matter, who recently shoved a card through my door, despite me being in (listen, lady, I'm not Usain Bolt…).

When I caught up with her later, I was told my package was now at the local depot.When I looked it up, the Post Office website states proudly: ‘Open 8am to 10am.' What do they do for the rest of the day?

DPD can be quite reliable (John-Paul, I salute you!). And Lewis, who delivers my coffee beans from Coffee Plant on Portobello Road once a month, you are a life-saver.

The man who owns my local deli is also heroic, but says when he brings around my haul that he now feels ‘a little like your dealer'.

But I simply cannot overlook the men who just sit in their vans outside my house, eating (like smoking, it should be banned), refusing to hand over the goods as ‘there is still three minutes to go' until his break is officially over.

Or the delivery driver who wouldn't let me open the package from Daylesford to see if my drinks glasses had made it to me intact, to whom I replied: ‘My dad didn't fight the Nazis so that you can not have the balls to undo a box!' Or EVDen Eve naKliYaT the man who, when I ordered logs, replied: ‘I will be around on Wednesday - unless, of course, it's icy.'

And I am not alone in my despair.TikTok and Twitter are awash with incidents of parcels being thrown in a hedge or dropped into a wheelie bin.

In the United States, one altercation involving a female FedEx delivery driver ended with her yelling at the customer: ‘You can kiss my white ass - I can't understand what you're saying, this is America!' (The driver later apologised, saying: ‘I'm frustrated.If you have any concerns pertaining to where and how you can utilize evDEn Eve NAkliyAT, you can call us at the web site. It's cold outside and I'm just trying to gather my thoughts.')

My worst experience with delivery drivers came just before Christmas. I'd ordered a book on gardens as a gift, knowing it would easily fit through my letterbox.

But no.I returned home to a card that stated it had been delivered to a DIY shop in town. I drove to the shop, melting ice caps along the way. I told the man inside that him being a delivery hub defeated the whole object of online shopping.

‘I might just have well driven to a bookshop and cut you out of the equation entirely!' I told him, as he fumbled through hundreds of packages with all the speed of a dead snail.

‘I'm just a cog,' he told me, caring not one jot.(It's the indifference that really riles me.)

Being deaf, I misheard him. ‘At last! Some accountability! Thank you! You are, indeed, a c**k!'

Meanwhile, I can no longer buy a Phillips screwdriver within a 25-mile radius of my home.Am I going to have to order one on Amazon?

Cyber-flashing? All I get is OAP abuse

I watched, fascinated, EVdEn EvE naKLiYAt Asking For It?, the Emily Atack documentary about cyber-flashing on BBC1 last week.

She gets hundreds of unsolicited pics of male genitalia sent to her every day.All I've received in the past few weeks is a letter (remember those?) from George, who is 70. I don't believe he has a smartphone.

‘Dear Liz. I enjoy your writing, but you seem to have been under more sheets than the Ku Klux Klan. You also have the sort of face a dog wouldn't lick.'

I wish, darling George.

 ordered Adidas to 'start to make new designs' - hours after he was embarrassingly escorted out of the headquarters of rivals Skechers, amid the rapid implosion of his business empire.

On Wednesday night he also appeared to reference his declining financial clout, noting: 'I haven't got super model pu**y in over a month.Please send help.'

His girlfriend of the past few weeks, Brazilian 24-year-old Juliana Nalu, is a model. 

West, 45, on October 9 tweeted that he would go 'death con 3' on 'JEWISH PEOPLE,' an apparent reference to Defcon, the U.S.military defense readiness system.

His Twitter and Instagram accounts were blocked in response and his lucrative deals with Adidas, Gap, Balenciaga and Vogue all abruptly ended - but the rapper was unrepentant, .

West on Monday was , but on Tuesday an analyst said that the German-based sportswear company intends to sell existing Yeezy product designs using its own branding.

The company said it would cease production of Yeezy-branded products and eVden eVE nAkliYat halt all payments to West and his businesses, but added that it is the owner of the Yeezy design rights.

'Adidas is the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership,' the company said.

West on Wednesday issued his first response to their statement.

'As to Adidas, you can start to make new designs for footwear, apparel and accessories immediately,' he wrote in a text to a 'Quinn Emmanuel', screenshotted and shared to Instagram.

West has previously been represented by law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, but Alex Spiro, a partner at the firm, said he was not involved.

West 'asked me to be his attorney but the representation never formalized,' said Spiro, whose other clients include Elon Musk.'I do not represent Mr. West.' 

West, in the text, continued: 'As to Gap, the non-compete expires December 15, 2022.

'You own the Yeezy name and all trademarks associated with Yeezy.'

West on Wednesday was removed from Forbes' list of billionaires, eVDeN eVE NakLiYAt with the magazine concluding that without Adidas he is worth $400 million. 

His fortune comes from real estate, cash, his music catalog and a 5 percent stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian's shapewear firm, Skims.

The deal with Adidas brought West an estimated $1.5 billion. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Westwas embarrassingly escorted out of Skechers headquarters after showing up unannounced to pitch his Yeezy brand, one day after and having his songs banned by Peloton. 

He was taken out by two 'executives' according to a statement released by the comthat they have 'indefinitely paused' the inclusion of any songs by Ye in their classes. 

'We take this issue very seriously and can confirm Peloton indefinitely paused the use of Kanye West's music on our platform, the statement said.   

'This means our instructors are no longer using his music in any newly produced classes and we are not suggesting any class that includes his music in our proactive recommendations to Members. 

'You should know this was a decision we made immediately following his remarks.Again, thank you for sharing your concerns and thank you for being a Member of our Peloton community.'

One Peloton instructor, Alex Toussaint, went so far as to comment on the 

'Cause I love everybody, I want to make sure everybody feels safe in my environment, in my classes, I'm not going to speak too much on it because you know I stand with you. 

'You will not hear that artist in my class,' Toussaint said.'I promise y'all I do not support hate speech, whatsoever, baby. If you have any concerns pertaining to where and ways to utilize EVdEn EvE NAkliYaT, you can contact us at our site. I don't tolerate that at all all.' 

It's been loss after loss for Ye, evDEn EVe NAKLiyAT who also lost his partnership with GAP, who immediately pulled his merchandise from their dedicated website after announcing that they were no longer working with him. 

The company condemned West's comments Tuesday, saying that were taking 'immediate steps' to remove Yeezy GAP products from their stores and shut down their website. 

'On behalf of our customers, employees and shareholders, we are partnering with organizations that combat hate and discrimination.' 

Universal Music's Def Jam has also condemned West's comments, after splitting with the rapper last year.

They said: 'Def Jam's relationship with Ye as a recording artists, its partnership with the GOOD Music label venture and Ye's merchandise agreement with Bravado all ended in 2021.

'There is no place for antisemitism in our society.We are deeply committed to combating antisemitism and every other form of prejudice.' 

The rapper was also dropped Monday by talent agency CAA.

In a statement GAP said: 'Anti-Semitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values.

His Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted, with the social media platforms saying they removed his posts that online users condemned as antisemitic.

LIZ JONES on the terrifying insecurity of having to rent in your 60s

Kanye Wests' ex-wife was spotted wearing a pair of classic lucrative contract with Adidas was terminated.

The 42-year-old mum-of-four made her feelings known when she shared the photo wearing Adidas' competition, alongside her son Saint, on the same day her baby daddy's agreement with the athleticwear juggernaut was torn up due to his anti-Semitic comments.

The rapper's $220million annual deal with the German sports brand, which is worth $1.5billion in total, was terminated as a result of his controversial behaviour.

According to

It comes days after Kanye claimed on a podcast that the sneaker giant 'cant drop him', despite saying 'anti-Semitic things'. When you have any kind of queries about in which along with the way to utilize EVden Eve nakliYAT, it is possible to contact us with our web page.  

Adidas' share price dropped more than 50 percent over the past six months, and evdEN evE naKliYat is expected to plunge even further in the wake of the announcement. 

Kanye's Twitter and Instagram accounts were restricted, eVDEN EvE naKliYAt with the social media platforms saying they removed his posts that online users condemned as anti-Semitic.

In a statement Adidas said: EVDeN Eve nakLiYaT 'Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. 

'Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.'