Mueller Disputes ‘Putin’s Chef’s’ Unfair Prosecution Claim 

(Bloomberg) -- Special Counsel Robert Mueller said Concord Management and Consulting LLC, the Russian company accused of bankrolling efforts to interfere in the U.S. presidential election in 2016 using social media, hasn’t shown evidence to support its claim that it’s been unfairly singled out for prosecution.

Concord -- run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef” because Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted dinners at his restaurants -- was indicted in 2017, alleged to have conspired with two other Russian businesses and 13 individuals to defraud the U.S. government.

Concord’s lawyer, Eric Dubelier, has accused the special counsel of making up a crime to fit the facts, but lost a bid claiming Mueller targeted them “for being Russian.” In January, he complained that international law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP was allowed to settle an investigation into its failure to register as a foreign lobbyist for Ukraine, saying that his client hadn’t been afforded the same treatment. He again sought documents from the U.S. to support the claim, a move opposed by Mueller.

Skadden wasn’t alleged “to have engaged in anything akin to the numerous acts of deception and concealment as alleged against Concord,” Mueller said in a filing Tuesday. “Concord and the law firm are in no way similarly situated.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Smith in New York at hsmith26@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.