EFTA00074217.pdf

From: To: Cc: Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 00:26:48 +0000 Attachments: 2020-01-27, JE,_Sweden_MLAT_request_re_interview.docx Following up on our discussions about this, attached please find our MLAT, as requested. Of course please let us know if there are any questions or issues, and thanks again for your assistance. From: Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 10:56 Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Dear ■ Every country is a little different in how they approach these types of interviews. MI I looped i to my conversation with Sweden and understand from the person I spoke to today that they had also been in touc . t the groundwork he has laid with the local police, I am hopeful that we will be able to get the local prosecutor's office on board quickly as well. Kind regards, From Sent: on ay,January , : AM Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Thanks for letting us know. It's obviously extremely frustrating that we were given different information from the Legat. Can you please let us know who you were in touch with in Sweden so we can advise the Legat and hopefully avoid this EFTA00074217 problem in the future? Thanks. And meanwhile we'll get you the MLAT later today. From Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 08:00 Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Good morning. I heard back from Sweden. They DO require an MLA request for the interview. They informed me that Swedish law enforcement is not authorized to execute such a request without a prosecutor, and getting a prosecutor involved triggers a need for an MLA request in this instance. They said we can send an advance English copy and they will forward that to the local prosecutor. It will be up to the local prosecutor whether to act on the English request alone. If the local prosecutor has issues understanding it, then they will need the Swedish. I understand this is a sensitive investigation so you will want to be limited in the facts you share in the request. However, we will need to include some description of the criminal activity and how the witness connects/is relevant. You will also need to describe the scope of the interview and general lines of questioning. I'll review the draft as soon as you get it to me and we should be able to get this out to Sweden today, albeit it may be after hours there with the time change. However, my colleagues know it is coming and will do what they can to move it as expeditiously as possible. They did not guarantee that this can be done in the timeframe we are looking for — I think a great deal depends on the local prosecutor's office and the speed with which they move. Please call if you have questions. I will be in the office today and can be reached at 202-616-5630. From: Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 3:51 PM Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Sure, that's no problem. Generally it is an investigation into sex crimes relating to minor victims, including but not limited to transportation of minors for the purposes of engaging in illicit sexual conduct, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2423. I should note that we don't believe any of the conduct was committed in Sweden, the individual we intend to interview was not a conspirator or otherwise a bad actor in the conduct, and we have not identified any victims who are currently residents of Sweden, to the extent that's helpful. thanks, From: Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 15:48 To EFTA00074218 Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Hi E Yes if Sweden approves, we will approve. Appreciating the sensitivities, would you be able to give me the general nature of the offenses under investigation, i.e. fraud and money laundering or hacking? I will do what I can to limit what I share with Sweden, but when I have asked this of other countries, they at least want to know the general nature of the investigation. I'd rather have the info and not have to share it than be missing something and need to come back to you. Thanks, From: Sent: Friday January 24 2020 3:29 PM Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 So it sounds like no on a conditional / provisional approval — presumably when Sweden approves you'll give a final approval, correct? And we'll hope for that on Monday. In terms of sending a formal MLAT, I think we'll actually hold off on that for now unless it's necessary and required even for a purely witness interview (as in, we have no reason whatsoever to believe the individual has any criminal exposure), just because the specifics of the investigation are extraordinarily sensitive, so if we don't need to share those with a foreign government we'd like to avoid it. (And in part for similar reasons, we have avoided doing any MLATs in this case and so there aren't other reference numbers to provide.) But so if it's possible to confirm the legat understanding on Monday we should be good to go, and if not we'll go from there and act quickly. In terms of the information you had requested on the FBI communications with Sweden, including having gotten the go- ahead from Sweden for the interview, our agents haven't been directly in touch with anyone from Sweden but their person coordinating is: Legat: And the name of the individual who has agreed to be interviewed — which itself is sensitive — is DOB: Please let us know if anything else would be helpful at this stage? Otherwise we'll hope to wake up to good news on Monday. thanks again, EFTA00074219 From: Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 15:13 Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Hi■ As discussed here is a go-by for you for the interview. As far as conditional approval goes, OIA will approve the travel if Sweden approves. As discussed, I expect we would be able to get that clarified on Monday. Best, From Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 2:21 PM Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 I'm sorry! I misread your name previously) — wanted to quickly check in, we're very much hoping to get OIA approval this afternoon to get our completed package to EOUSA. I just tried calling but didn't catch you. Is there any other information we can provide that would be useful? thanks again, From Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 11:08 Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Hi We do not have an MLA request — it's just a consensual, voluntary interview with a witness. We have, however, been told by FBI that their Legat has approved the trip and is in touch with the relevant local authorities. And happy to address any additional questions, including via phone if that's faster (we need OIA approval to move up the chain on our paperwork). thanks, From: • Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 09:08 EFTA00074220 Subject: RE: Sweden travel - February 3-7 Dear■ Do you have an MLA request in place? If so, do you have the reference number so I can take a quick look? Thanks, From: Sent: Friday, January 24, 2020 12:50 AM Subject: Sweden travel - February 3-7 We're seeking OIA's concurrence on travel to Sweden the week after next to interview a witness. (I believe Mr. ordinarily is the primary person for this request, but it looks like he has an out-of-office reply for Friday and Monday, so given the relatively close timing of the planned travel, I hope it's alright that we emailed you and copied him as well.) We understand that the trip has been cleared by the FBI Legat, who has consulted with the relevant local authorities. We do not need access to the Embassy. Please let us know if you need any additional information? And thanks very much. Assistant U.S. Attorney Southern District of New York EFTA00074221