In the late 1990s, I was a law clerk in the Arlington, Virginia Immigration Court. My most memorable case involved a wealthy Russian businessman named Alex Konanykhin and his wife, Elena Gratcheva. Mr. Konanykhin made his fortune–around a quarter billion dollars–in the Wild West of post-Soviet Russia, but was then chased from his country by former KGB agents and criminals intent on stealing his money. The Individual Hearing that I attended took a full week, which is almost unheard of in Immigration Court. Mr. Konanykhin’s attorney was the legendary Michael Maggio, who I got to know a bit during the trial. My role was to sit in the courtroom and take notes. After the hearing, I helped the Immigration Judge write up the decision granting asylum.
There was more to this case, including an appeal to the BIA, improper behavior by several U.S. government officials that resulted in a $100,000 payment to Mr. Konanykhin, an unsuccessful attempt by the couple to evade border authorities and enter Canada, and several different federal court cases. When the dust finally settled from this ten-year odyssey, Mr. Konanykhin received asylum in the U.S. (around the same time, his wife–who was a dependent on his case–passed away). (more…)