The Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach are no strangers to attention, with their oceanfront location and branding by former president Donald Trump.
However, on Thursday, the luxurious high-rise complex became the center of law enforcement’s focus, specifically the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI, aided by local law enforcement, carried out a search of unit 4102 in Trump Tower III located at 15811 Collins Ave. The unit is owned by a shell company called MIC-USA LLC, which is controlled by two Russian businessmen, Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Agunda Konstantinovna Makeeva according to state corporation records. The FBI’s Miami field office confirmed that they were conducting court-ordered law enforcement activity in the area, but did not provide further details.
Efforts to reach Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Agunda Konstantinovna Makeeva, the two Russian businessmen who control the shell company that owns unit 4102 in Trump Tower III, were unsuccessful. However, Patsulya’s wife, Roza Pereira, who is also listed on the corporate paperwork for MIC-USA LLC, confirmed that she was aware of the FBI’s raid.
Roza Pereira, wife of Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya, one of the owners of the condo unit being searched, told the Miami Herald, “I can’t talk about it… The lawyer [for my husband] said not to talk to anyone. … I have no idea what it’s about.”
Sunny Isles Beach, where the Trump Towers are located, has a high concentration of Russian expatriates and has been dubbed “Little Moscow” by locals.
Some members of the community are worried about a potential backlash due to the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine last year and the U.S. government’s sanctions against oligarchs who invest in real estate in South Florida and other parts of the country.
In 2016, before he became president, Donald Trump signed an agreement with the developers of the three 45-story Trump Towers on Sunny Isles Beach to use his name to help promote sales.
This strategy attracted many foreign buyers, including those from Latin America and Russia, who were drawn to Trump-branded properties in the area. Among those buyers was MIC-USA, a shell company owned by Russian businessmen Oleg Sergeyevich Patsulya and Agunda Konstantinovna Makeeva. According to Miami-Dade property records, MIC-USA purchased a three-bedroom, three-bath condo unit in Trump Tower III for $1.65 million a decade ago.
The FBI raided this unit on Thursday as part of court-ordered law enforcement activity. Patsulya’s wife, Roza Pereira, who is also listed on the corporate paperwork for MIC-USA, said that she cannot comment on the matter due to the lawyer’s advice. The affluent beachfront community of Sunny Isles Beach has a significant Russian expatriate population.
According to the court records, BAC Florida Bank, which financed the purchase of the condo unit, sued Patsulya and Makeeva in 2020, alleging that they defaulted on the $975,000 mortgage. It remains unclear how the dispute was resolved later that year. Despite this, MIC-USA, which is controlled by the two Russian businessmen, still owns the 41st-floor unit in Trump Tower III.
