Tevfik Arif

Tevfik Arif (Russian: Тофик Арифов; born May 1953), also known as Tofik Arifov, is a Russian/Turkish real estate developer and investor. He is the founder of the Bayrock Group, an international real estate development and investment company based in New York.[3][4][5] He resides in the United States.[6]

Tevfik Arif
Born
Tofik Arifov

May 1953[1][2]
Dshambul, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
CitizenshipTurkish
Occupation(s)Real estate developer, investor
Known forBayrock Group
SpouseGulnara Arifova

Early life and career

Tevfik Arif was born Tofik Arifov in an ethnic Turkish family in Dshambul, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.[7][2][8] His family came to Kazakhtan from Meskhetia, Georgia after the ethnic Turkish Meskhetian community were deported by Joseph Stalin in 1944.[9] Arif received an international relations degree from a Moscow university.[7][2] Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Arif worked for the USSR's Ministry of Commerce and Trade for 17 years. He served as the deputy director of its Department of Hotel Management. Arif resigned from the ministry in 1991 and founded Speciality Chemicals Trading Company, an export-import business trading in rare metals, chrome, and raw materials.[8][2] He then worked as an "agent on the ground" in Kazakhstan for Trans World Group, a natural resources company run by David and Simon Reuben.[2]

Arif moved to Turkey in 1993, where he started to expand his business interests far beyond the mining and metal industries he had started in Kazakhstan. He diversified into energy trading (Penta Energy Investments), car dealerships (import and distribution partnership with Turkish conglomerate Ihlas Holding) and hotels.[2][8]

Later career

Bayrock Group

In 2001, Arif founded the Bayrock Group, an international real estate and development company. He began developing property in Brooklyn, first redeveloping Loehmann's Seaport Plaza, a waterfront shopping center in Sheepshead Bay.[10] Arif was originally the sole employee of Bayrock, later hiring Felix Sater as managing director.[11]

After moving the Bayrock Group to Trump Tower, Arif developed a relationship with businessman Donald Trump. Trump provided a licensing deal for the Trump SoHo hotel in a joint venture between the Bayrock Group and the Sapir Organisation.[12][13] In 2007, Bayrock traded future profits from Trump SoHo and other projects in exchange for $50 million in financing from Icelandic company FL Group.[11]

Trump and Bayrock later developed the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Fort Lauderdale. The group were also involved in projects in Europe.[13][14]

Although the working relationship with Trump ended in 2008, following the housing market collapse, Bayrock came under close scrutiny in the United States due to its dealings with Trump between 2002 and 2011. Nothing out of the ordinary was uncovered, and no official action has been taken against the company.[11][14]

The Bayrock group received a lot of unfavorable press from two former employees, Felix Sater and Jody Kriss, however court cases that the two brought against the company have been settled out of court.[8][15][16][17]

Personal life

Arif is believed to live in Turkey and spends time in Switzerland and England.[11] Today, Tevfik Arif is partially retired from the family's business. Other family members now lead the group, and Tevfik Arif provides the role of consultant and adviser to family members.[18] Although he is not Jewish, he is one of the largest donors to the Chabad of Port Washington.[19]

References
  1. "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," (Tofik Arifov, Residence, Port Washington, New York
  2. Shaw, Craig; Sentek, Zeynep (20 December 2016). "The Football Leaks Family 1: World leaders, mobsters, smoke and mirrors". TheBlackSea.eu. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  3. Behar, Richard (19 October 2016). "Вся президентская рать. Кто стоит за Дональдом Трампом". Forbes (in Russian). Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  4. Burgis, Tom (19 October 2016). "Dirty money: Trump and the Kazakh connection". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  5. Bayrock Group LLC (27 July 2007). "Bayrock Group Increases Stake in Midtown Miami Mixed-Use Development". PR Newswire.
  6. Ne şanslı adam diyorlar ya..., Sabah, 2009, archived from the original on 10 May 2021, retrieved 20 December 2020, Tevfik Arif Bey Ahıska Türkü. Doğma büyüme Kazakistanlı. ABD'de yaşıyor.
  7. "United States Public Records, 1970-2009," T(ofik Arifov, Residence, Prt Washington, New York (subscription required)
  8. Sorbello, Paolo (3 January 2017). "Football Leaks: The Kazakh Connection". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  9. Ne şanslı adam diyorlar ya..., Sabah, 2009, archived from the original on 10 May 2021, retrieved 20 December 2020, Tevfik Arif Bey Ahıska Türkü. Doğma büyüme Kazakistanlı. ABD'de yaşıyor.
  10. "Who is Tevfik Arif? Part I | Trump / Russia". 30 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-12-27. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  11. Silverman, Gary (14 August 2016). "US election: Trump's Russian riddle". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  12. 1Nance, Malcolm (2016).The Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.ISBN 978-1-5107-2333-7.
  13. Nance, Malcolm (2016). The Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-5107-2333-7.
  14. "Trump-Linked Real Estate Firm Settles Suit by Ex-Employee - Bloomberg". Bloomberg. 22 February 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  15. "Football Leaks: The Dirty Tricks of Doyen Sports". The Black Sea. December 21, 2016. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  16. "The Doyen Group". El Mundo. 17 December 2016. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  17. "New York court dismisses $250 million tax fraud case against Russia-born former Trump associate". 27 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-12-27. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  18. Schreckinger, Ben (April 9, 2017). "The Happy-Go-Lucky Jewish Group That Connects Trump and Putin". Archived from the original on May 20, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  19. United States Public Records, 1970-2009, Tofik Arifov, Residence, Port Washington, New York(subscription required)
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