An ex-FBI informant who once lived in Calabasas is set to plead guilty Monday to federal charges, including a count alleging he fabricated a story that President Joe Biden and son Hunter each took $5 million bribes from the owner of a Ukrainian energy company.
Alexander Smirnov, 44, most recently a resident of Las Vegas, has agreed to enter a plea to creating a false record in a federal investigation, obstructing justice and failing to pay taxes and penalties on $2.1 million in income for 2020 through 2022, according to his plea agreement filed in L.A. federal court.
Smirnov, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was initially accused in a 37-page, two-count indictment of making false statements to FBI agents in June 2020, when he allegedly told them about meetings with an executive from Burisma, the Ukrainian energy company which employed Hunter Biden as an attorney and later as a member of its corporate board.
The defendant also allegedly told agents that Burisma executives made $5 million payments to both Joe and Hunter Biden when Joe Biden was vice president, court papers show. Prosecutors strongly denied the allegations against the Bidens.
Smirnov faces a sentence of up to six years in federal prison, according to his plea deal, which states he will be required to pay $675,502 in restitution.
Smirnov’s false allegation was taken up by Republicans, who made the unverified claims part of their effort to impeach President Biden.