Alexandria, VA – Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, a 44-year-old Russian national from St. Petersburg, Russia, has been charged with interfering in the U.S. political system, including the 2018 midterm election.
According to allegations in the criminal complaint, Khusyaynova served as the chief accountant of ‘Project Lakhta,’ a Russian umbrella effort funded by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and two companies he controls, Concord Management and Consulting LLC, and Concord Catering.
Project Lakhta includes multiple components, some involving domestic audiences within the Russian Federation and others targeting foreign audiences in the United States, members of the European Union, and Ukraine, among others.
Khusyaynova allegedly managed the financing of Project Lakhta operations, including foreign influence activities directed at the United States. The financial documents she controlled include detailed expenses for activities in the United States, such as expenditures for activists, advertisements on social media platforms, registration of domain names, the purchase of proxy servers, and ‘promoting news postings on social networks.’
Between January 2016 and June 2018, Project Lakhta’s proposed operating budget totaled more than $35 million, although only a portion of these funds were directed at the United States. Between January and June 2018 alone, Project Lakhta’s proposed operating budget totaled more than $10 million.
The alleged conspiracy, in which Khusyaynova is alleged to have played a central financial management role, sought to conduct what it called internally ‘information warfare against the United States.’ This effort was not only designed to spread distrust towards candidates for U.S. political office and the U.S. political system in general, but also to defraud the United States by impeding the lawful functions of government agencies in administering relevant federal requirements.
The conspirators allegedly took extraordinary steps to make it appear that they were ordinary American political activists. This included the use of virtual private networks and other tactics to disguise their Russian origins.
Khusyaynova is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, a felony offense. This case demonstrates that federal law enforcement authorities will work aggressively to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of unlawful foreign influence activities whenever feasible.
Defendant: Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States
City and State: Alexandria, VA
Exact Date: Unsealed January 2019
Sentence or Outcome: Currently pending
Dollar Amounts: Over $35 million in proposed operating budget for Project Lakhta between January 2016 and June 2018
Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Cybercrime|Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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