Antigua And Barbuda's Prime Minister Who Praised Putin Was Accused Of Taking $6 Million In Bribes
2- 14.05.2026, 20:14
- 1,302
Gaston Browne was accused of bribery by the daughter of a Russian billionaire.
The daughter of Russian billionaire Andrey Gurieva, Yulia Gurieva-Motlokhova, has accused Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne of a "personal agreement to accept a $6 million bribe" in the sale of the Alfa Nero superyacht seized by the country's authorities, filing a lawsuit in a Florida court. According to the plaintiffs, the sale of Gurieva's yacht was arranged at a price about $60 million below its estimated market value, reports The Moscow Times.
The yacht was off the coast of Antigua when war broke out in Ukraine in February 2022. Although the vessel was not on the U.S. government's sanctions lists at the time, Antigua and Barbuda authorities prevented it from leaving territorial waters for several months. In August 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Andrei Guriev and said he was part of a group of "Kremlin-linked elites" and a close associate of Vladimir Putin.
In July 2024, Brown's government sold the yacht for $40 million to the owners of Turkey's Yildirim Group, a large construction and shipping conglomerate. The plaintiffs estimate the vessel's value at about $120 million.Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt offered $67 million for her, but the deal did not go through.
Gurieva-Motlokhova accused Antigua and Barbuda officials of orchestrating a corruption scheme to misappropriate the vessel after it was docked in Antigua's port, and began trials as early as 2023. Her lawyers said they had uncovered evidence of "widespread corruption and illegal activity" in the administration of Prime Minister Gaston Browne that went far beyond the seizure and sale of the Alfa Nero itself. One of the key lawyers on the Gurieva-Motlokhova team is David Costello of Boies Schiller Flexner. Prior to joining the firm, Costello served as Deputy Solicitor General of Florida.
Gurieva-Motlokhova, who lives in the United Arab Emirates, says she is entitled to a UAE defense for alleged crimes committed against her abroad. She intends to initiate proceedings under the Arab country's penal code and seek Brown's prosecution.
Brown, meanwhile, has made statements that critics consider pro-Russian, and was one of the few world leaders to repeatedly attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. "If I were a Ukrainian leader, I would not subject my people and my country to the destruction that accompanies NATO membership," Brown said. He does not believe Vladimir Putin started the war to annex Ukrainian territory. In his opinion, the Russian president does not accept the NATO neighborhood.
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