The top U.S. newspaper picked up on previous coverage of Paxum and its executives by Reporter.London, teaming up with this outlet and freelance journalist Matt Bernardini to expose the details of a line of financing provided by Paxum’s Anton Postonikov to Donald Trump’s social media network.
Among the revelations was that Postolnikov was connected to an opaque trust, ES Family Trust, and together they provided $8 million to Trump’s project, which could be converted into a stake in the firm. A whistleblower and experts have said this arrangement was problematic due to strict securities regulations in the U.S.
Trump’s team and Paxum executive Andrei Octav Moise denied any impropriety in comments to the Post. Postolnikov could not be reached for comment but prior to the article’s publication, his representatives expressed a position in a local news website in Dominica, where Paxum Bank is headquartered, denying any wrongdoing and any links to Russian money or the Kremlin. Moise issued statements to the press the evening before the Post article’s publication, saying that he would leave Paxum.
The story also details Postolnikov’s past business activity in Russia and real estate investments in Florida, as well as a donation to Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, first reported here.
Read the full Washington Post article here.