�WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2020) The US government has charged Russian national Artem Mikhaylovich Lifshits for an alleged wire fraud conspiracy to further foreign influence operations in the United States, the Justice Department said in a press release on Thursday.
"According to the complaint, the subject engaged in a wire fraud conspiracy to further Russian foreign influence efforts and to enrich himself and others," FBI Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence Division Alan Kohler Jr. said in the release. "The FBI will move aggressively to uncover and disrupt any efforts aimed at undermining our democratic institutions."
Earlier ion Thursday, the Treasury Department designated Mikhaylovich for his alleged ties to the internet Research Agency (IRA), which has been previously sanctioned by the US government.
Russia has repeatedly denied interfering in the US political system, saying such practices run counter to the principles of the country's foreign policy.
The release said the 27-year-old Lifshits was manager of a group called "Project Lakhta" engaged in operations to interfere in political and electoral affairs in the United States since at least May 2014. The release added that the group tried to obscure its conduct through a number of entities, including the IRA.
Moreover, the release said Lifshits and other members of Project Lakhta conspired together to obtain personal information of US citizens in order to open fraudulent banking accounts and to make cryptocurrency exchanges in the victims' Names.
