U.S. Department of State offers $10 mln reward for info about Russian businessman Prigozhin

WASHINGTON. July 29 (Interfax) - The U.S. Department of State has offered a reward of $10 million for information about Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Internet Research Agency as the Department of State believes they may have been involved in interference in the 2016 elections in the U.S.

"The U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program [...] is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on foreign interference in U.S. elections. [...] The Department seeks information on Internet Research Agency LLC, Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin, and linked Russian entities and associates for their engagement in U.S. election interference," the Department of State said in a statement.

The Department of State has listed 12 individuals and several legal entities information on which it would like to receive in this case.

In February 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice published a document, indicting 13 Russian citizens over interference in the U.S. presidential elections. The document also mentioned three legal entities, namely the Internet Research Agency, Prigozhin's Concord Management and Consulting company and Concord Catering affiliated with it, which were also indicted. Then-U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller accused these people and organizations of waging a social media campaign aimed at influencing public opinion in the run-up to the U.S. presidential elections in 2016.

Subsequently, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in March 2020 upheld the U.S. Justice Department's decision to drop the election meddling charges against Russia's Concord Management and Consulting. The decision stemmed from fears that access to sensitive information on the sources and methods of the investigation would be made public during court hearings.

In February 2021, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published a notice of 13 people wanted on counts of meddling with the U.S. elections in 2016 and interference in U.S. internal affairs. Prigozhin was one of the people on the list. The businessman said he was ready to sue the FBI in order to receive all available information about himself.

Prigozhin submitted a statement to the FBI demanding that the notice of a $250,000 reward for information about him be removed from the FBI website.