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Russian Nuclear Official Pleads Guilty To Corruption In U.S.


U.S. authorities say a former Russian nuclear official has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in arranging millions of dollars in “corrupt” payments linked to the Russian state nuclear company Rosatom.

The U.S. Justice Department said in an August 31 statement that Vadim Mikerin, who resides in Maryland, admitted to arranging more than $2 million in illicit payments “to influence the awarding of contracts” with Rosatom.

Mikerin, 56, pleaded guilty earlier in the day in a Maryland federal court and is scheduled to sentence on December 8.

The Justice Department said that Mikerin served as an executive with a Maryland-based subsidiary of Tenex, a Rosatom-owned firm that supplies and exports uranium and enrichment services to nuclear power companies worldwide.

Mikerin said conspirators made payments in order to influence him and win "improper business advantages" for U.S. firms that worked with Tenex.

An attorney for Rosatom said earlier this year that the state-owned Russian firm cooperated with the U.S. investigation, and that other officials with the company were not involved in the misconduct.

With reporting by Reuters and The Wall Street Journal

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