Rep. Sam Liccardo urges federal review of a proposed Menlo Park project, alleging landowner Vitaly Yusufov acted for former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and has links to people tied to organized crime. He cites nearby defense, AI and quantum-tech firms as a security concern.
First proposed in 2023, the development would include three towers with hundreds of homes, a hotel and offices on the former Sunset Magazine headquarters site. In July, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Menlo Park violated state law by improperly denying the developer and imposing fees. He did not order the project to proceed, but rejected the city’s effort to halt it.
Liccardo’s Wednesday letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said Yusufov had been sanctioned by Ukraine. N17 founder Oisin Heneghan called Liccardo’s claims “based on false reporting”; he did not address whether Yusufov owns the land or the alleged organized-crime links. The New York Times reported Deutsche Bank sold its stake in 2019 to a company it believed Yusufov owned, raising concerns at the bank about possible suspicious activity.
