Former CNBC, Fox News Staffer Charged With Helping Sanctioned Russian Oligarch Push Pro-Putin Propaganda

Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik, AFP via Getty

A former CNBC and Fox News employee has been charged for allegedly helping sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev on multiple media projects across Europe.

Malofeyev, who has been connected to the Kremlin, was sanctioned in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

The Treasury Department noted at the time the wealthy Russian had worked to help destabilize Ukraine, which is currently being invaded by Russian troops.

The Justice Department alleged on Thursday that 71-year-old John Hanick illegally assisted the oligarch for years as he pushed propaganda in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government across Europe.

A LinkedIn page for Hanick shows he worked for CNBC from 1995 to 1996. He then worked for Fox News, but left the network in 2011.

Hanick apparently began his career in media in 1974 as a camera operator at WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut.

His work for Malofeyev allegedly began in 2013 and continued until 2017 — or potentially longer.

The department did not disclose the name of a Russian TV network Hanick allegedly worked for on behalf of Malofeyev, referring to it only as “Russian TV Network.”

A DOJ press release alleged:

Hanick reported directly to Malofeyev regarding the network’s operations and was listed on organizational charts directly below Malofeyev. Hanick was paid for his work through two Russian entities that were nominally separate from the Russian TV Network, but his compensation was overseen by Malofeyev, negotiated with Malofeyev, and was for his work for Malofeyev’s Russian TV Network. Hanick wired a portion of the payments he received from a Russian bank account to a bank account he held at a bank located in New York, New York.

Hanick is also alleged to have helped Malofeyev with media projects outside of Russia, in both Bulgaria, and Greece.

“The defendant Hanick knowingly chose to help Malofeyev spread his destabilizing messages by establishing, or attempting to establish, TV networks in Russia, Bulgaria and Greece, in violation of those sanctions,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen.

The DOJ added of that work:

At Malofeyev’sdirection, Hanick traveled to Greece and to Bulgaria on multiple occasions in 2015 and 2016 to work on these initiatives, and reported directly back to Malofeyev on his work. For instance, in November 2015, Hanick wrote to Malofeyev that the Greek television network would be an “opportunity to detail Russia’s point of view on Greek TV.”

The FBI first spoke with Hanick in February of last year, when he allegedly lied to federal agents.

He has been charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and for making false statements.

Hanick faces up to 25 years in prison if he is convicted on both charges.

The Treasury Department noted in 2014 of Malofeyev:

Malofeyev is one of the main sources of financing for Russians promoting separatism in Crimea.  Malofeyev is being designated because he is responsible for or complicit in, or has engaged in, actions or polices that threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine and has materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic.