January 25, 2019
Iranian-American Bijan Rafiekian (who is known as Bijan Kian in the US) has been indicted in the United States for working secretly to help Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan retaliate against a political opponent.
The indictment is the latest by the Justice Department as it cracks down on Americans who perform unregistered work for foreign governments.
Kian was a partner with Michael Flynn, President Trump’s first national security adviser, in a company that worked for Turkey before the 2016 election. Flynn was not indicted, though he was cited in the indictment.
Flynn and Kian became partners in 2014 in a US-based business that pursued security consulting and energy contracts around the world. The newly unsealed indictment doesn’t name the company. But it matches the description of Flynn Intel Group, which Flynn and Kian founded after Flynn was fired by the Obama Administration as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
In late summer 2016, while Flynn was working as the Trump campaign’s top national security adviser, he and Kian contracted with Turkey to influence public opinion and US government officials against Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish imam living in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan blamed for a failed coup attempt that year, according to prosecutors.
The 90-day effort was known as “The Truth Campaign” and involved a media blitz in the US to discredit Gulen, who holds a US green card, as well as meetings with US government officials who might help push for his extradition, as sought by Turkey.
Turkey paid $600,000 to a front company called Innovo BV that was set up by a Turkish citizen, Kamil Ekim Alptekin, who was indicted along with Kian, but who remains at large. Kian concealed the fact that the payments came from Turkey, the indictment says.
Kian, 66, and Alptekin, 41, were charged with acting in the US as unregistered agents of Turkey and conspiracy in the indictment, which was dated December 12.
Kian faces as long as 15 years in prison.
During a meeting with Turkish officials, Kian and Flynn even discussed the possibility of kidnapping Gulen, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The indictment doesn’t refer to a kidnapping discussion.
Kian emigrated to the US in 1979 from the UK. A Republican donor and vocal opponent of Iran’s Islamic regime, he worked for banks and financial companies before being appointed by then-Governor Pete Wilson of California as an economic development commissioner in 1994. He later served as a director of the state’s foreign investment office.
Since moving to Potomac, Maryland, a Washington suburb, Kian has acted aggressively to expand his social network, both to elevate his status and cultivate new business, according to several acquaintances, the Associated Press reported.
Immaculately dressed in black tie or tailored suits with perfectly folded pocket squares, Kian used “Honorable” before his name, a rarely used honorific for presidential appointees and elected officials. Kian was neither.
Flynn had a short stint as Trump’s national security adviser. He was fired in February 2017, after just 24 days on the job, when it surfaced that he had been less than forthcoming with administration officials about his contacts with Russian officials.
According to the indictment, Alptekin paid Flynn’s firm $600,000 through wire transfers from a Turkish bank account in his name. But prosecutors say he also received portions of the money as “kickbacks” arranged by Kian. Flynn’s company was ultimately paid $530,000. Alptekin has said the payments were refunds for unfulfilled work.
