U.S. settles Russian money laundering case
Source: Reuters
U.S. | Sat May 13, 2017 | 11:39pm EDT
U.S. settles Russian money laundering case
By Joel Schectman and Nathan Layne | WASHINGTON
A Russian-owned group of companies has agreed to pay nearly $6 million to settle U.S. civil allegations that the firms laundered proceeds of a $230 million tax fraud, ending a politically charged case days before it was set to go to trial.
Federal prosecutors in New York announced late Friday the surprise settlement between the U.S. government and Russian businessman Denis Katsyv, the owner of Prevezon Holdings, as both sides were preparing to bring the three-year case to trial next week.
We will not allow the U.S. financial system to be used to launder the proceeds of crimes committed anywhere here in the U.S., in Russia, or anywhere else," Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said in a statement.
The settlement comes after Prevezon was hit with key setbacks last week: U.S. District Judge William Pauley denied a summary judgment motion by the defense and granted a government motion to admit evidence from a Russian criminal case.
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U.S. authorities said the elaborate tax fraud and money laundering allegations were first uncovered by Sergei Magnitsky, Russian accountant for investment firm Hermitage Capital.
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Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-prevezon-idUSKBN18904I