Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, was tricked by Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Moreover, the Fed chair conducted a fake call with the supposed president in a new video that surfaced today.
The chairman was under the assumption that he was speaking to Zelenskiy, according to a Fed spokesperson. Moreover, the video that has been posted shows Powell answering a host of questions regarding things like inflation and the Russian Central Bank.
Powell Gets Pranked
In a rather interesting turn of events, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was tricked by Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Zelenskiy. Subsequently, a video of the fake call depicted two Russian pranksters posing as Zelenskiy in several clips.
The footage shows Powell talking to the pranksters under these now-revealed false pretenses. Additionally, a Fed spokesperson said, “Chair Powell participated in a conversation in January with someone who misrepresented himself as the Ukrainian President,” according to Bloomberg.
The spokesperson stated, “It was a friendly conversation and took place in a context of our standing in support of the Ukrainian people in this challenging time.” Subsequently, assuring that “no sensitive or confidential information was discussed.”
Conclusively, the spokesperson said, “The matter has been referred to appropriate law enforcement,” while refusing to discuss further. Conversely, the Fed also shared that the video of the incident appeared to have been edited. However, it is impossible to verify the validity of that comment.
The comments in the video appear to be inconsequential, but the prank raises some concerns. Specifically, regarding how the Federal Reserve Chairman was tricked so easily. The pranksters, Vladimir Kuznetsov, and Alexei Stolyarov, have used impersonations similarly before.