Press Release
Grand Jury Returns Indictment Charging FBI Confidential Human Source with Felony False Statement and Obstruction Crimes
Thursday, February 15, 2024
For Immediate Release
Special Counsel David C. Weiss

Today, a federal court unsealed a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in the Central District of California charging Alexander Smirnov, 43, with making a false statement, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001, and creating a false and fictitious record, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519, for statements he made that were recorded in an official record of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) known as a Form 1023.

David C. Weiss, Special Counsel, made the announcement.

On February 14, 2024, a federal grand jury returned the indictment and Smirnov was arrested at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, after his arrival in the U.S. from overseas. Later today, Smirnov will have an initial appearance at the federal courthouse in the District of Nevada at 2:30 p.m. pacific time.

According to the indictment, Smirnov was a confidential human source (CHS) with the FBI. As alleged in the indictment, despite repeated admonishments that he must provide truthful information to the FBI and that he must not fabricate evidence, Smirnov provided false derogatory information to the FBI about Public Official 1, and Businessperson 1, the son of Public Official 1, in 2020, after Public Official 1 became a presidential candidate.

The indictment alleges that in March 2017, Smirnov reported to an FBI Agent that he had had a phone call with the owner of Ukrainian industrial conglomerate Burisma Holdings, Limited concerning Burisma’s interest in acquiring a U.S. company and making an initial public offering (IPO) on a U.S.-based stock exchange. In reporting that conversation to the FBI Agent, Smirnov also noted that Businessperson 1, Public Official 1’s son, was a member of Burisma’s Board, a fact that was publicly known. The indictment alleges that Smirnov provided no further information.

https://www.justice.gov/sco-weiss/pr/grand-jury-returns-indictment-charging-fbi-confidential-human-source-felony-false