Prigozhin controls "a network of companies," including three accused of interference in the United States elections. Prigozhin is also accused of attempting to influence the U. Prigozhin, his companies and associates face economic sanctions and criminal charges in the United States. He graduated from an athletics boarding school in and was engaged in cross-country skiing. On 29 November , Prigozhin was given a suspended sentence for stealing in Leningrad. In he was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment under articles of robbery, fraud, and involving teenagers in prostitution.
Prigozhin spent nine years in prison before he was released. In , after his release, he and his stepfather set up a network to sell hot dogs. Soon, according to a New York Times interview with him, "the rubles were piling up faster than his mother could count them. In , when revenues began to fall, Prigozhin persuaded a director at Contrast, Kiril Ziminov, to open a restaurant with him.
He said his patrons "wanted to see something new in their lives and were tired of just eating cutlets with vodka. Bush in In , Putin celebrated his birthday at New Island. By , Prigozhin had left his business partners, established his own independent restaurants, and had become a confidante of Putin, apparently free to engage in illicit activities without fear of prosecution. His company, Concord Catering, got hundreds of millions in government contracts for feeding school children and government workers.
Some of the profits from this contract are alleged to have been used to start and fund the Internet Research Agency.
In he moved his family into a St. Petersburg compound with a basketball court and a helicopter pad. He has a private jet and a foot yacht. The Anti-Corruption Foundation accused Prigozhin of corrupt business practices. They estimated his illegal wealth to be worth more than one billion rubles. In , Msk LLC was paid only 2.
