A Mystery

This is a mystery. It's also a true story.

The hero of our story is a Russian man named Dmitry from a modest upbringing in the Soviet Union. He was a diligent medical student. But when communism collapsed, he decided to become an entrepreneur. But he did it honestly, without bribing corrupt government who could help him, and built a multi-billion-dollar industrial empire.

But then one day about ten years ago a mine he owned collapsed, taking down part of a city and a rail line with it. Government officials were furious and opened an investigation. Dmitry faced crippling fines that would bankrupt him and also possible criminal prosecution.

Dmitry was desperate. All hope seemed lost. He turned to an old friend, who in turn was a very close friend of Vladimir Putin, Russia's strongman president.

Now there are many who say that Putin cut a secret deal with Dmitry through their mutual acquaintance. Putin wanted to give $50 million to a friend in the United States who was a property developer. Putin needed to use an intermediary so no questions would be asked. All Dmitry had to do was wildly overpay the American property owner for some real estate, a way to launder the money discretely.

So Dmitry paid $95 million for real estate the property developer had paid only $40 million for a few years earlier. The property developer had made no improvements to a crumbling mansion on the property. After the deal closed Dmitry never saw his American property, which was in Palm Beach.

Eventually he decided to have the mansion torn down in hopes of cutting the land into three parcels to sell. He finally sold two of the three parcels but only recouped part of what he had paid for the property. To this day, ten years later, the third lot remains unsold.

Dmitry is a real man. His name is Dmitry Rybolovlev. The property developer is a real man. His name is Donald Trump.

Hopefully, Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team are investigating this mystery. Why did Rybolovlev wildly overpay for a property when the market was collapsing? Was it indeed a $50 million secret payment from Putin to Trump and, if so, what was it really for?