Former Mongolian prime minister Sukhbaatar Batbold, who still sits in his country's parliament, is trying to jump into a federal civil forfeiture case in Brooklyn that targets two luxury Manhattan apartments. His legal team says he is not out to claim the properties, but to shut down what they call a corrupt-money narrative, push for dismissal or summary judgment, and clear his name. In court papers, they cast the fight as the latest round in a long-running cross-border brawl sparked by a private investigative dossier.
Government's allegations
Federal prosecutors unsealed a civil forfeiture complaint in March 2024 that seeks to seize two Midtown units worth about $14 million, arguing they were bought with proceeds of an international corruption and money laundering scheme. The case is being run by the Criminal Division's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative and the FBI's International Corruption Squad. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, the complaint traces the suspected scheme to mining contracts allegedly steered to intermediaries linked to Batbold and his family.
Batbold's rebuttal
According to a letter filed with the court by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher on April 9, 2026, Batbold is seeking to intervene specifically to oppose a proposed amended complaint and to defend his reputation. The filing argues that the government's theory "originated" in a dossier prepared by K2 Integrity, and points to a 2022 decision by a three-judge panel in Mongolia that, the letter says, found the core corruption allegations "not true." His lawyers also tell the court they have voluntarily turned over hundreds of contemporaneous documents and 17 sworn statements to U.S. investigators in an effort to rebut the claims.
Manhattan properties named
Court papers identify the targeted assets as Cooperative Unit 12E at 21 East 61st Street and Condominium Unit 58D at 230 West 56th Street, purchased in 2012 and 2015 and valued at roughly $14 million combined. Prosecutors say some proceeds from the mining contracts were funneled through shell companies and into U.S. accounts, allegedly covering personal expenses tied to Batbold's family. Those property details and the government's in rem claims are laid out in the Department of Justice press release describing the forfeiture push.
Legal posture
The matter is a civil in rem forfeiture case, not a criminal indictment, which means the government has to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the apartments are traceable to unlawful activity rather than meet the higher criminal standard. Batbold has not been charged with any crime in the United States, a point his lawyers stress as they ask the judge to block the amended complaint and let them move for summary judgment. As Jurist and other outlets have reported, kleptocracy forfeiture cases often turn into long, messy battles over foreign evidence and contested overseas court rulings.
What happens next
Batbold's motion to intervene and the government's request for permission to amend the complaint are now in the hands of U.S. District Judge Rachel Kovner. The defense has asked that Batbold be allowed to take part in pre-motion proceedings and to seek summary judgment. The judge has not yet ruled, and a pre-motion conference could set a timetable for briefing and for cross-border discovery. For now, the case keeps the spotlight on how pricey Manhattan real estate continues to crop up in international anti-corruption crackdowns.
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