Former FBI informant accused of lying about Biden family business faces new tax charges

The former FBI informant was indicted by special counsel David Weiss for allegedly: Lying about President Joe Biden He and his son Hunter Biden face a separate new indictment on tax-related charges related to their business dealings, court records show.

Alexander Smirnov allegedly avoided paying taxes on more than $2 million in income he earned from multiple sources between 2020 and 2022, according to the indictment unsealed in California federal court on Tuesday.

Smirnov will stand trial in Los Angeles starting next week on “trumped-up” charges that he fabricated regarding President Biden and his son receiving $5 million in bribes from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. minister. it exists did not admit his guilt to the accusations.

That hearing was postponed until January by the federal judge presiding over Smirnov’s case.

The newly unsealed indictment shows that Smirnov lived a lavish lifestyle during the years he allegedly peddled lies about the Biden family to the FBI agent — a $1.4 million Las Vegas condominium, a Bentley he allegedly rented for more than $122,000, and money for himself and his partner. She allegedly purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars of clothing, jewelry and accessories.

Even though he had an income stream of more than $2 million, his credit card application in June 2022 listed total annual income as only $60,000 and gross business income as $250,000, prosecutors say.

The indictment also alleges that when Smirnov sought the assistance of a professional tax return preparer who refused to sign his returns, Smirnov told the preparer that they “shouldn’t ask how he earned his income” and also instructed them to delete any email or e-mails. Messages sent by Smirnov.

“Mr. Smirnov plans to fight these allegations with the same intensity he fought the first indictment,” Smirnov’s lawyers, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in a statement.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Smirnov had not yet entered a plea to the newly filed indictment, according to court records.

Smirnov has remained detained since his arrest in February on the belief that he poses a flight risk due to his alleged extensive foreign contacts, including some known ones. senior intelligence agents in Russia.