Trump lawyers family lent $20M to wife of Chicago cab mogul

[kpete]

The ties between President Donald Trump’s embattled personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen and Chicago’s taxicab industry go deeper than previously known.

Over the past eight months, Cohen’s father-in-law has given at least $20 million in loans to Yasya Shtayner, records examined by the Chicago Sun-Times show. Her family owns Chicago Medallion Management Corp., which manages 368 taxicabs, including 22 owned by Cohen.

Shtayner and her husband Semyon Shtayner — Chicago Medallion Management’s corporate secretary — were identified in a warrant the FBI used to raid Cohen’s law office and home, looking for documents relating to his business interests as well as his $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her from discussing her alleged dalliance with Trump, according to a CNN report.

Shtayner has received eight loans from Cohen’s father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, according to documents filed with the Cook County recorder of deeds.

...................

Shusterman and the Shtayners, all immigrants from Ukraine to New York City in the 1970s, couldn’t be reached for comment.


MORE:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/?post_type=cst_article&p=1041080

Link to tweet

[Angry Dragon]

1. So many tentacles

[bluestarone]

4. Man you got that right!!!! WOW just WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rzemanfl]

2. WTF is this? n/t

[Hassin Bin Sober]

3. Exhibit A of why I roll my eyes when people talk about poor cab drivers versus Uber/Lyft

These scumbags make Uber look like saints

[elehhhhna]

5. The cab drivers get screwed. The owners are mobsters.

It's been said the Russian Mob took over the old mafia ages ago.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Ive had mortgage clients that were cab drivers in Chicago.

I’ve done their financials. The ones I’ve seen were leasing cabs by the day.

It’s a fuck job against the driver no matter which way you look at it.

[elehhhhna]

17. 24 hour lease, split 12 hour shifts w a friend or relative. Heard it all the time in Chicago.

Took cabs pretty much daily in Chicago for 20 years, had 2 bad drivers.

If you get the guy who has the left side of his scull caved in (literally), get out of the cab immediately. Poor bastard is the most dangerous driver on earth. I survived 2.5 rides with him and still cant believe it.

[elehhhhna]

6. Loans are untaxable income that can be quietly forgiven later

[Leghorn21]

7. Holy cow, this is some serious cash...some googling the other night revealed this re: the Shtayners:

Semyon and Yasya were mentioned in a 1979 NYT article:

Buying watermelon on a recent evening, 25‐year‐old Semyon Shtayner and his wife, Yasya — and 2‐year‐old Felix, bright‐eyed in a stroller — were part of a Red Apple crowd that was plainly reveling in the array of fruits and melons. “In Russia, harder to get,” Mr. Shtayner explained. Like many of his countrymen here, he drives a taxi (as he did back in Chernovetse), earning $700 a month. He pays â300 for a one‐bedroom apartment. With a wide grin, he said that he had “enough food, enough clothes, enough job,” as he also did in the Ukraine; that he goes to synagogue “not every week” and that he really left to get “a good life, a Jewish life, a free life.”


https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/21/archives/soviet-jews-find-old-woes-new-joys-in-new-world-a-good-life-a.html

Semyon has 2 LLCs in Las Vegas...(well...I’m 99% sure this is him):

https://nvsos.gov/SOSEntitySearch/CorpDetails.aspx?lx8nvq=X4ZObnKd0wVtplyr6ltQEw%253d%253d

He has 36 LLCs total:

https://www.bizapedia.com/people/semyon-shtayner.html

From Vox, 3 days ago:

...Around this time, Cohen’s personal life and business interests both became deeply enmeshed in a community of Ukrainian immigrants in New York City. Both Cohen and his brother Bryan married Ukrainian immigrants, and both did business with their wives’ fathers. Cohen and a Ukrainian partner began buying up taxi medallions (the expensive city-issued permits necessary to operate taxis).

Also, Cohen legally represented something called the Ukrainian Capital Growth Fund, he and two Ukrainian partners made failed investments in a gambling cruise business, and he tried to pitch US investors to fund a Ukrainian ethanol company controlled by an allegedly mob-connected oligarch.


https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/4/11/17218010/michael-cohen-raid-fbi-trump-mueller-explained

Yasha’s addresses:
https://www.instantcheckmate.com/people/yasya-shtayner/

SUNNY ISLES is also known as LITTLE MOSCOW:

August 2016:

These days Sunny Isles Beach is also known as Little Moscow. According to the 2010 census, just over 7 percent were Russian-speakers – and since then that number is likely to have increased. Next door to the real estate agency Big International is the restaurant Kalinka, the tourist agency Amber Tours, the caviar bar Nutcracker, as well as another real estate agency – all Russian-speaking businesses. On the streets of Hollywood and Hallandale Beach one can also hear a lot of Russian.

Snip

Besides the Trump Towers, the business-mogul-turned-presidential-candidate has another development in the area. Trump is a household name with Russian-speakers here, says Eli Nektalov. “People from the former Soviet Union know Trump because he has many projects in those countries,” says the owner of the real estate agency. “They know him as someone who achieves his goals. That is why I am sure that most Russian-speakers will vote for Trump.

http://wlrn.org/post/praise-trump-sunny-isles-little-moscow

....this is also where all the little Russian “anchor babies” are being born...hmmmm...

[OneGrassRoot]

10. WOW! The Russian and Ukrainian influences run deep with this crew...

Much deeper than I realized and I thought I'd been staying pretty informed.

Thanks for this!

P.S. - This is tacky, and without having followed the links you provided to learn more about the spouses of the Cohen brothers, my first thought was Trump and Melania and the questionable model-to-wife pipeline situation...and Trump's modeling company which has rumored links to sex trafficking.

Just wow.

[Leghorn21]

11. WOW is right, Root! DUer lunasun posted on Saturday a mention of the Chicago taxi people

named in FBI search warrants on Cohen, and boy, I spent hours that night googling my brains out!!! I was particularly intrigued to find a connection between the Shtayners and Little Moscow, OMG!!

And to see that Semyon Shtayner had an LLC originating in VEGAS, baby (I have no idea if that means anything, of course!) -

And this morning’s news of Cohen’s father-in-law lending the Shtayners TWENTY MILLION?? Holy schnikes!!

I have NO DOUBT whatsoever now that eventually we’ll learn about that sex trafficking/Trump “modeling” outfit...because it’s my understanding that this is one time-honored way that mobsters make all their CASH, which needs a good laundering...

And hey, I think we’re going to find out that since Felix Sater and Michael Cohen are buddies from their youth, and that since Cohen married the daughter of the guy who lent the Shtayners millions of hard-earned (ahem) dollars...well, I just bet Sater knew this father-in-law as well and....well, Felix intrigues me no end, what can I say??! Has he flipped or not?! Because if he HAS, well - alllll these nasty people are goin DOWN!!

Sorry to run on, I’m just buzzed to find the connections between this mobster and that one!!

[OneGrassRoot]

12. lolol...

I GET AS EXCITED AS YOU!!! The connections are remarkable -- and not even being hidden! It's just laborious connecting all the dots. Thank goodness Mueller has a YUGE team of investigators. Holy crap, can you imagine the movie of this mess? It'll need to be more like a six-part miniseries or something.

It's horrifying but the potential to take down SO MUCH CORRUPTION AROUND THE WORLD - let alone Stable Genius and his whole corrupt web -- is what I find exciting.

I realize it's merely potential at this point but I gotta have hope.

I know people have mentioned it before but I REALLY wish there were a Mueller Investigation group here on DU.

[Leghorn21]

13. Hi Root, I am back to bend your ear some more!!

I had to do a bunch of human things, but then settled into a google-fest of searching for Fima Shusterman, Cohen’s father-in-law...I have discovered only just a couple tiny tidbits...but even tiny things are FUN!!!

No photos of Fima or his wife that I can find, rats - I like having names with my faces, “oh well”.

Fima’s wife’s name is Ania.

Fima and Ania were/are definitely based in NYC, but they also have a residence - of course! - in “Shady” Sunny Isles, Florida, aka “Little Moscow”:



Ohhh, this article showed up - I have only skimmed it, but it’s got some serious details goin on!:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/18/1758117/-The-many-wild-links-between-Micheal-Cohen-Felix-Sater-Trump-the-Russian-Mob-the-NYPD-and-NY-FBI

And here are my two tiny tidbits:

1. Fima Shusterman appears to be the owner of a real estate company - SHUSTERMAN FIMA - which I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere else. I hear-tell real estate’s a FABULOUS way to launder money, but hey, what do I know?!

https://ny.convenientbusinessdirectory.com/company/shusterman-fima.html

(There are a hundred addresses here for Fima Shusterman, and 845 United Nations Plaza is one of them, so I’m 99.9% sure that’s his real estate business as well:
http://www.peoplebyname.com/people/Shusterman/Fima

And here is his wife, Ania, also listed as having that address:
https://www.advancedbackgroundchecks.com/ania+shusterman/77504866)

This “Shusterman Fima” real estate company does NOT have a nice website, not that I’ve found, where a buyer might go property shopping...hmmm, is that weird, normal, or somewhat suspicious? (I, of course, have no clue!)

Now this is from a lonnnnggg post on Reddit by some researcher who ain’t playin around!! Many lonnnnggg paragraphs about all the Cohen players, including his brother, Bryan, who also married a Ukrainian woman.

SO, remember that the LLC Cohen paid Stormy and Elliot Broidy’s mistress through was listed as originating in Delaware? Well, here’s a copy of a document from 2006, and the LLC is in Delaware...holy cow, DOES THIS MEAN ANYTHING??! Haw haw, I would be the last to know if it does or doesn’t, but here ‘tis:



Yes, a Mueller Investigation Group would be swell!! And YES, the potential to take out mobsters AROUND THE WORLD is thrilling, indeed!! My favorite phrase concerning this massive effort is

—————————————————NO STOPPING TILL MOSCOW————————————-


Oh noes, I have once again over-yammered, but we are excited here, are we not??!

Why - YES. Yes we ARE!!!

[OneGrassRoot]

14. You're good!

The real estate thread throughout this criminal enterprise is undeniable (funny that Hannity pulled that out of his ass as what he consulted with Cohen about...lol). And, yes, I've also heard it's a great way to launder money.

As are casinos, and we know Trump (Taj Mahal) was fined #10M for charges related to money laundering. And Cohen had a foray into a casino business (South Florida, of course) which ended much like Trump's businesses: not paying people who provided goods and services and basically ghosting them.

I've been hesitant to get back on reddit (the Alt-Right seemed to take over the site), but have you found a good subreddit focused on the Mueller investigation? Do you mind sharing the link?

Thanks, Leghorn!

[Leghorn21]

15. Hey Root!

Not “good” - google, click, copy & paste!! But I do have fun!!

Hey, I just read about that Florida Cohen gambling disaster for the first time yesterday- ! Inch by inch!

No, I don’t do reddit...they make me nervous! - the screenshot I pulled is from a forum there, and when I checked it, well, there’s lots of info, but no more than one could find searching DU or intrepid twitter researchers I don’t think -

So this is a new thing...for whatever it may mean? - but the trump org. is bringing in mob lawyer Alan Futeras to Cohen/Daniels hearing tomorrow...what does this MEAN??!! (I just posted this news in GD) Ha ha, beats me, but I’ll be “watching”! This guy, Adam Klasfield, is a court reporter guy, and will most likely be live-tweeting tomorrow, as he did during last hearing:

https://mobile.twitter.com/KlasfeldReports

Thank you, Root! A pleasure exchanging info tidbits with you!!

[OneGrassRoot]

16. Ha! Just saw the same news...

What a crew, eh?

Until next time...take care.

[elehhhhna]

18. They took over from the old Italian/Sicilian mob over the last few decades , so it is said.

They are more brutal and vicious. Apparently that's what wins in organized crime.

[world wide wally]

8. Russia, Russia, Russia all the time

When did we officially surrender?