Alexander Smirnov, a former FBI informant previously indicted for allegedly lying about US President Joe Biden and his family’s links to Ukraine, has been indicted on new tax-related charges.
US Justice Department Special Counsel David Weiss filed the new charges on Nov. 21, which accused Smirnov of hiding millions of dollars of income earned between 2020 and 2022.
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The 27-page indictment said Smirnov received more than $2 million from multiple sources during those years, though he “only listed $60,000 in total annual income and $250,000 in gross business income” on a business credit card application dated June 18, 2022.
The indictment also outlined Smirnov’s expenses such as a $1.4 million condominium in Las Vegas, a Bentley leased for over $122,000, and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on clothing, jewelry, and accessories allegedly bought for himself and his domestic partner.
“In order to conceal the millions of dollars he received in income in 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Defendant created and filed false Forms 1040, US Individual Income Tax Returns, for himself and in Domestic Partner’s name that included false and fictitious income and expenses,” the indictment reads.
Smirnov’s attorney, David Chesnoff, told CBS News that his client denies the allegations and “intends to vigorously defend this case as he is vigorously defending the first case.”
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Smirnov’s earlier indictment accused him of falsely claiming to his FBI handler that an executive of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma told him they had paid Biden and his son Hunter $5 million each to “protect us, through his dad, from all kinds of problems.”
Prosecutors said that witness testimony, email evidence, and phone and travel records further proved that Smirnov could not have been in touch with Burisma officials when he claimed, and that therefore, the bribery allegations against the Biden family were totally false.
Smirnov’s testimony formed the basis of an investigation launched by congressional Republicans into Biden and his family and prompted a House impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Smirnov’s trial for the Biden case has been postponed to Jan. 8 next year.
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