Chagit Leviev-Sofiev, the daughter of diamond-dealing and real estate oligarch Lev Leviev (a pal of Vladimir Putin, Mr. Leviev told the Times he keeps a photo of Putin on his desk), has bought a condo in Trump Tower for $1.42 million.
From New York, Leviev-Sofiev runs her father’s business interests in the US, where she is president and CEO of Leviev Group USA and heads Leviev Diamonds USA.
Last year, Leviev — known as the “King of Diamonds” — and his daughter were the subject of some suspicious activity reports submitted by JPMorgan Chase to the US Treasury, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which analyzed the reports, as part of the so-called FinCEN leaks.
Leviev and Leviev-Sofiev, through a lawyer, denied wrongdoing, according to reports.
Leviev also made headlines in 2016, when cops shut down a Lincoln Tunnel lane to give Leviev a personal police escort.
By 2018, Leviev’s son and brother were arrested in Israel as part of a sting involving the smuggling of $81 million worth of diamonds into the country.
One of Leviev’s staffers who was questioned was found dead, having fall out of a window at Israel’s diamond exchange. Leviev, wanted for questioning, has stayed in Russia.
The 1,127-square-foot condo, on the 40th floor of Trump Tower, at 721 Fifth Ave., went on the market for $1.57 million last November and closed on Dec. 23.
The seller was Ilya Zavolynov. The listing broker was Douglas Elliman’s Monika Kaputa.