WASHINGTON _ Long before Igor Fruman was arrested in a widening political scandal that threatens the American presidency, the Soviet-born emigre and sometime Florida man came to riches through political connections in Ukraine.
Fruman's fortunes were made in Ukraine in the late 1990s thanks in part to ties to at least one politician there, according to anti-corruption groups. A review of his last two decades in business suggests he might have been trying to rekindle sagging fortunes at the time of his Oct. 9 arrest for what the indictment said was "a scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office" in order to "buy potential influence with candidates, campaigns" and foreign governments.
Aside from his scowling mug shot _ taken after the FBI arrested him at Dulles International Airport with a one-way ticket out of the country _ not much is known about Fruman, though in 2012 he was ranked the 195th wealthiest person in Ukraine worth almost $29 million by Focus, a weekly Ukrainian news magazine published in Russian.
