A Quebec social-media influencer and her husband allegedly accepted millions of dollars from RT, a media outlet controlled by Moscow, despite sanctions prohibiting any citizen of Canada from dealing with the company and its officials.
An unsealed indictment last week revealed that U.S. prosecutors believe Tenet Media, a digital-media company controlled by Canadian-born right-wing pundit Lauren Chen, and her spouse Liam Donovan, accepted nearly US$10-million to create and distribute messaging that would benefit Russia.
The alleged foreign influence campaign was hatched, prosecutors say, by two officials from RT, the state-controlled Russian media company that was banned in Canada and elsewhere after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
That year, Ottawa introduced additional sanctions designed to thwart the Russian government from conducting business in Canada and with Canadians. Ottawa has placed sanctions on RT, as well as other companies and more than 1,000 Russian individuals. The legislation prohibits anyone in the country or “any Canadian outside Canada” to enter into transactions with those on the prohibited list. The maximum penalty under the Special Economic Measures Act is five years in prison.
William Pellerin, a partner at McMillan LLP in Ottawa who specializes in international trade law and co-leads the firm’s sanctions team, declined to comment about the specific allegations in the U.S. indictment. But speaking generally about the sanctions, he said the rules are quite broad.
“RT was sanctioned by Canada in July, 2022. As a result, Canadians and persons in Canada are prohibited from dealing or transacting in any way with the property of that entity and to receive money from RT, directly or indirectly,” he said.
He said he was not aware of any charges being laid in Canada under the law related to the Russia sanctions. Global Affairs Canada, which is responsible for the sanctions, did not respond to questions before The Globe and Mail’s deadline Monday. Charlotte Hibbard, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said the force generally does not comment on investigations in other countries.
Ms. Chen and Mr. Donovan have not been charged with any crime by U.S. authorities. Although Tenet and the couple are not named in the indictment, prosecutors’ description of the Tennessee-based company and the couple – who are referred to as Founder 1 and Founder 2 – match the language used on Tenet’s website. The indictment also alleges that Founder 1′s Canadian company received some of funds that were transferred from the RT officials.
Those officials, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, are accused of engaging in money laundering and not complying with the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Ms. Chen declined to comment when contacted on her phone by The Globe and Mail. Mr. Donovan did not respond to a request for comment sent to two of his e-mail addresses.
Ms. Chen first signed a contract with RT in the spring of 2021, the indictment alleges.
The initial agreement required Ms. Chen to create videos, post social-media content and write articles for the Russian media outlet. More than two dozen of her articles were posted on RT’s website over the next 12 months.
RT also provided the couple with an official letter designating them “essential workers” during the pandemic, the indictment states.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, U.S. authorities allege, Ms. Chen was asked to launch a new YouTube channel, for which she would initially be paid US$8,000 per month for “influencer talent scouting services.”
That agreement was later updated to pay her monthly fees of $25,000 and “performance bonuses” after high-profile commentators came under contract. Between August, 2023, and June, 2024, Ms. Chen and Mr. Donovan invoiced a “shell” entity in Britain more than US$760,000, prosecutors allege.
The company registered by Ms. Chen and Mr. Donovan, Tenet Media, began operations last fall. In a post on X, it said it was a “new independent media network” with “independent” thinkers.
The six YouTube commentators featured by Tenet included Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson, who have 2.4 million subscribers apiece.
The commentators are not identified by name in the indictment, and U.S. authorities said they were unaware they were part of a Russian influence campaign. Some of them received as much as $400,000 per month to post four online videos.
Of the $9.7-million sent to companies controlled by Ms. Chen and Mr. Donovan, at least $8.7-million was used to pay the commentators.
Mr. Rubin, Mr. Johnson and another Tenet commentator, Tim Pool, have all said this week on X that they were “victims” in the scheme. Mr. Pool added that he is co-operating with the FBI.
Special to The Globe and Mail