Electeds Protest Prokhorov Too Late
As most people expected, the NBA approved the sale of the Nets yesterday to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, clearing the way for the team’s move to Brooklyn and freeing up Bruce Ratner to focus on real estate development rather than creating one of the worst teams in the history of the sport. Also yesterday, a…
As most people expected, the NBA approved the sale of the Nets yesterday to Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, clearing the way for the team’s move to Brooklyn and freeing up Bruce Ratner to focus on real estate development rather than creating one of the worst teams in the history of the sport. Also yesterday, a group of five Brooklyn elected officials released a letter to NBA commission David Stern protesting the sale to Prokhorov on the grounds of his prior business relationship with zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe. The only problem? The letter was sent after the NBA had already made its decision. Still, as Atlantic Yards Report points out, it was unlikely the letter would have had much impact after similar concerns from a New Jersey congressman had been brushed off. The entire letter is reproduced on the jump, but here’s the gist of it: “The public benefits of Atlantic Yards will be hollow if they are achieved with the help of profits gained through fraudulent schemes or a regime that holds no regard for human rights.”
NBA Approves Sale Of Brooklyn Bound Nets [NY1]
Prokhorov Approved to Own the Nets [Brooklyn Eagle]
As Expected, NBA Approves Prokhorov [AYR]
NBA approves Prokhorov to take over Nets [Brooklyn Paper]
Photo by hunter.gatherer
May 11, 2010
Mr. David J. Stern
Commissioner
National Basketball Association
645 Fifth Ave
New York, NY 10022
Dear Mr. Stern:
This letter is being sent to express concerns about the National Basketball Association’s pending agreement with Mikhail Prokhorov, who seeks to buy the New Jersey Nets basketball team. In a recent interview, you anticipated that Mr. Prokhorov could be sitting among the NBA’s team owners during the draft lottery on May 18, despite the possibility that he may have violated United States sanctions against Zimbabwe that have been in place since 2003.
Brooklyn elected officials are disappointed that you are so eager to close the deal with Mr. Prokhorov, as your statement implies, rather than vet the details of a prospective team owner’s dealings in a nation run by Robert Mugabe’s oppressive dictatorship.
The Nets basketball team is an integral part of the Atlantic Yards redevelopment project – a project that was sold to the public as one that would provide many benefits to New Yorkers, including the creation of thousands of affordable housing units. As elected representatives of the community, we have a significant responsibility to ensure that the public is served through the most honorable means possible.
Congressman Bill Pascrell of New Jersey has asked you to keep your stated commitment to perform due diligence of Mr. Prokhorov and he has called upon the Treasury Department to investigate whether sanctions have been violated. The signers of this letter share Congressman Pascrell’s belief that the NBA should hold a higher standard for its business partners than simply avoiding doing business with convicts.
Rep. Pascrell wrote to you explaining that as a 50 percent owner of Renaissance Capital, Mr. Prokhorov is directly connected to the firm’s reported sponsorship in June 2009 of an economic forum in Harare, Zimbabwe. Renaissance Capital offered foreign investors special access to government officials, including those on the United States’ sanctions list, and is also reportedly a shareholder in CBZ Holdings, one of the largest banks in Zimbabwe. The Government of Zimbabwe is the bank’s largest shareholder.
The congressman also made you aware of his findings that Renaissance may have long-standing working relationships with major Russian fraud scheme, based on documents filed last year in the Southern District of New York. The court filings detail Renaissance’s connection to a complex tax rebate fraud in Russia through which it is believed at least $106.9 million in taxes paid from a Renaissance-managed investment fund was later embezzled from the Russian treasury through the payment of fraudulent tax refunds.
The public benefits of Atlantic Yards will be hollow if they are achieved with the help of profits gained through fraudulent schemes or a regime that holds no regard for human rights.
We ask that you postpone the NBA owners’ vote to ratify Mikhail Prokhorov as owner of the New Jersey Nets until his business background is thoroughly understood.
Sincerely,
Letitia James
Member of City Council, 35th CD
Brad Lander
Member of City Council, 34th CD
Joan L. Millman
Member of State Assembly, 52nd AD
James F. Brennan
Member of State Assembly, 44th AD
Velmanette Montgomery
Member of State Senate, 18th SD
Way to go Tish et al. As always, your intelligence and foresight are second to none.
Need I say D-O-N-E-D-E-A-L?
Or perhaps we should take a trip down memory lane (take your pick):
(1) The fight against AY is far from over!
(2) I am confident that we will prevail in court!
(3) Batson, Matera, Ferrer, Owens, etc., etc. will win this election!
(4) This has nothing to do with money. I am doing this because I want to remain in my home. ***
*** My favorite
Build baby Build!
“The public benefits of Atlantic Yards will be hollow if they are achieved with the help of profits gained through fraudulent schemes or a regime that holds no regard for human rights.”
And all this time I thought the public benefits would be hollow because they’ll never materialize.
Only thing worse than my tax dollars being routed to Ratner is my tax dollars being routed to a Russian billionaire.
Hot dogs get your red hots here!! Barclay and the slave trade,and now Prokhorov and Mugabe?
Who the hell cares!
Rock with me! H to the izzO V to izzA!
no they won’t buttermilk. as mule points out, they’re on their way to resurrection. and now that king james looks more likely to be on his way out…
it’s better to be the very worst in the nba than bad. it’s the easiest way to turn around a franchise. see tim duncan.
and if lbj wants out after the pending meltdown in cleveland, then either he chooses to team up wiht wade in miami or he will be coming to ny. and would he rather go to the awful awful knicks with virtually no talent or the nyets with at least a core?
These jokers are late to a game that’s long ended. The NBA is already known for its high moral standards, so Prokhorov’s ownership obviously didn’t bring up any problems for them. Meanwhile, the NETS are 12-70. They’ll still suck in Brooklyn.
Very brave stance, eh? Not only did it have no impact because they dragged their feet, it will also cost them…yep…nothing.
So a fund that a billionaire has a partial stake in conducted a foreign investment forum in Zimbabwe (when it’s capitalists it’s propping up the regime, when it’s NGOs it’s propping up the economy, but whatever) and that fund that he’s a partial owner in apparently set up meetings between potential investors and government officials which would be a violation of US sanctions (though who knows where the fund is based).
And THEN there’s a “connection” between this partially owned, and seemingly insignificant fund and the possibility of a tax rebate scam.
In terms of relative scale… this would be like my giving a nickel to a homeless person, him using it to buy a $10 vile and then the drug dealer not paying tax on that profit.
Neverminding the ineptness of sending this letter late– this is why our government is so incompetent when it comes to financial regulation. Their approach is saying oh, well Disney owns ABC, ABC owns Lost, Lost features an Iraqi who blows himself up (spoiler, sorry), someone in Iran saw it and that person funded terrorism…. ergo….