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U.S. Money Laundering Lawyer Jailed in Belarus May Not Survive, Says Brother
By Brian Orsak
printA high-profile money laundering lawyer imprisoned in Belarus has been denied necessary medication and his health is deteriorating, according to the U.S. State Department. Belarusian authorities arrested Emanuel Zeltser, a Russia-born lawyer who practices in New York, on March 12, claiming he had entered the country with forged documents relating to a lawsuit over the disputed inheritance of Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili. The government later charged Zeltser with entering the country with narcotics, an allegation Zeltser's family has denied, saying that the drugs in question are prescription medications Zeltser takes for diabetes, severe arthritis and gout. "Prison officials aren't giving...
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Bank of New York Mellon and the Russian government finalized an expected settlement Thursday of a lawsuit that had sought $22.5 billion for tax revenue lost to a money laundering scheme.
The Bank of New York Mellon settled a $22.5 billion civil lawsuit brought by the Russian government for the actions of a rogue bank employee who laundered billions of dollars, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Russia's finance minister.
Emanuel Zeltser, a New York-based anti-money laundering attorney, was released from a Belarusian prison Tuesday after serving nearly a third of a three-year sentence for industrial espionage, according to media reports.
Settlement talks between the Bank of New York Mellon and Russia over the country's alleged loss of taxes on $7.5 billion have stalled, according to a lawyer representing the federation.
Russia has offered to drop a controversial $22.5 billion lawsuit against Bank of New York Mellon in exchange for an $800 million settlement, a Russian financial newspaper reported Tuesday.
Bank of New York Mellon is for the first time talking about a possible settlement in a $22.5 billion lawsuit brought by Russia over revenue purportedly lost in a money laundering scheme, according to news reports.
A Belarusian court sentenced a New York-based money laundering attorney to a three-year prison sentence on Monday despite U.S. protests about how the trial was conducted.
The Russian government has hired celebrated U.S. attorneys Alan Dershowitz and G. Robert Blakey to testify about U.S. RICO laws as part of its $22.5 billion lawsuit against the Bank of New York Mellon for its alleged role in a money laundering scheme.
The Russian government is seeking three times the amount of Russian money a Bank of New York employee helped launder through the institution under the U.S. Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The Russian Customs Service sued the bank under U.S. law, the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act, in May for unpaid tariffs after a rogue bank employee helped transfer more than $7 billion out of Russia through illicit wire transfers. The case is being heard in a Russian court.
The Russian Customs Service is set to open its case in a $22.5 billion money laundering-related lawsuit against the Bank of New York on Monday after a hearing was delayed this week, a bank spokesman said.
The bank, which is based in the Netherlands, said Thursday that it has set aside €365 million in anticipation of the settlement of a Justice Department criminal probe into ABN's dollar clearing activities, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions compliance and other issues.
Former Bank of New York executive and convicted money launderer Lucy Edwards says financial institutions should be wary of their employees and knowledgeable about their outside business dealings.