Felix Sater

Felix Sater
Name	Felix Sater
Native name	Феликс Сатьёр
Birth date	1966
Birth place	Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	American
Occupation	Businessman
Known for	Real estate development, legal controversies, informant activity

Felix Sater is an American businessman and former Soviet-born entrepreneur known for his work in New York real estate, his involvement with high-profile development projects, and his cooperation with United States federal authorities. He has been a controversial figure due to prior criminal convictions, alleged ties to Russian Mafia elements, and later claims of providing information to agencies linked to Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation investigations. His activities intersect with prominent figures and organizations in international finance, politics, and real estate.

Early life and education

Born in Moscow in the Russian SFSR to a Jewish family, he emigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in Brooklyn, New York City. He attended local schools in New York City and became involved in business ventures in early adulthood. During the 1980s and 1990s he developed connections across immigrant communities in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn Heights, and Manhattan, which later influenced his commercial networks involving individuals from Russia, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union émigré community.

Career in real estate and business

He became active in the New York real estate scene, working on projects and deals that connected him to developers, financiers, and investment firms in Manhattan, Miami, and international markets such as Moscow and Dubai. He partnered with and brokered deals involving figures from firms associated with Bayrock Group, Trump Organization, and other New York development companies. His business dealings often included negotiations with international banks and investors tied to entities in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Israel, and Switzerland. Projects under his involvement ranged from residential towers to proposed casinos and hospitality ventures in locations including SoHo, Wall Street, and proposals for Atlantic City and Miami Beach.

Organized crime connections and legal issues

Throughout his career he has been linked by prosecutors and journalists to members of organized crime syndicates, including individuals associated with the Russian Mafia and transnational criminal networks operating in the United States and Eastern Europe. In the 1990s and early 2000s he faced criminal charges in New York courts, culminating in a conviction for assault and involvement in securities fraud schemes tied to commodity and penny stock trading. He pled guilty in federal court to charges that included stock manipulation and was sentenced to imprisonment and supervised release under statutes enforced by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and overseen by prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

His legal entanglements also involved civil disputes with business partners and litigation touching on contracts, alleged fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty in cases brought in state and federal courts. Journalists and investigators have connected his name to investigations by publications and programs covering organized crime influence in New York City and transatlantic money flows involving banking institutions in Cyprus, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Role in Trump Organization and political connections

He is noted for a business relationship with associates of Donald Trump, including work on proposed projects involving the Trump Organization and contacts with executives from The Trump Organization's development teams and affiliated firms. He served as an intermediary in efforts to secure financing and investment for skyscraper proposals and resort developments that were promoted in coordination with Trump-branded projects. His outreach included meetings with figures associated with Michael Cohen, Jared Kushner, and other intermediaries who acted as liaisons between developers and potential foreign investors.

His name has appeared in reporting and investigative materials related to the 2016 presidential campaign, lobbying activities, and proposals for transactions that would have involved foreign sovereign or private entities. Those activities prompted scrutiny from congressional committees including United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence investigators and discussions in media outlets examining links between business negotiations and political influence involving the Trump circle.

Intelligence cooperation and federal informant activities

Federal authorities have publicly characterized him as having provided cooperative assistance and information to agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecutors in Manhattan. He has claimed to have worked with intelligence and law enforcement bodies to supply information about organized crime figures and international actors. Reporting indicates that prosecutors referenced his cooperation when making sentencing submissions and when pursuing broader investigations into international money flows and criminal enterprises.

His cooperation intersected with cases involving transnational crime, sanctions compliance, and counterintelligence concerns, drawing interest from officials at agencies tasked with national security and financial crimes. These interactions were documented in filings and investigative reporting that described his role as an informant and suggested coordination with federal investigative priorities tied to monitoring illicit networks linked to Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Personal life and later developments

He has maintained residences in New York City and has been involved in private business ventures and advisory roles following his release from federal custody. Media coverage has followed later developments in his career, including new real estate pitches, public statements about his past, and participation in legal and regulatory matters. His personal life has been the subject of profiles in major outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, and investigative reporting by ProPublica and other organizations. As of recent reporting, he remains a polarizing figure whose business activities and past cooperation with law enforcement continue to attract attention from journalists, legal analysts, and policymakers.

Category:American businesspeople Category:People from Brooklyn Category:Russian emigrants to the United States