RUSSIA SUES THE BANK OF NEW YORK!
To be honest, I really dont know what to think about this story. Russian Federal Customs apparently deems it signifigant to reopen a 10 year old U.S/Russian money laundering case.
Back in 1998, The Bank of New York got caught in a money laundering scandel. Federal agents were tipped off in August 1998 that unusually large amounts of money were zooming through the bank from Russian sources.
CNN reported in August 1999 right after the Bank of New York scandal story broke, "...allegations arose that a Russian crime syndicate had laundered some $10 billion - possibly funds diverted from International Monetary Fund payments - through accounts at the Bank of New York (BK) and Republic National Bank (RNB).
(This Entire article can be viewed at: http://money.cnn.com/1999/08/26/companies/russia_probe/)
Its also good to throw in that back in 2005/2006, former Bank of New York's vice president and her husband were sentenced to six months home confinement after admitting to involvement in a $7 billion Russian money-laundering conspiracy. Six months HOME CONFINEMENT for Russian money laundering involvement?? That seems odd. However that is just ONE of the ODD details to this 10 year old story.
The latest chapter to this odd financial corruption story should have Americans raising a lot of red flags. It is not only unusual timing by Russia, but the lawsuit, itself, against this American Bank, years after the case had been settled, should also be seen as a suspicious move. “In Russia today, no serious deal can be made without approval from the Kremlin,” said Irina Yasina, a researcher at the Institute for the Economy in Transition, a research group led by a former prime minister, Yegor Gaidar.
No major deals without approval from the Kremlin? And who is the Kremlin king? Well, none other than our ex-KGB boy, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Which has me very curious of what his role has been in this lawsuit against Americas' oldest financial institution.
This lawsuit along with all the other eerie stories coming out of Russia lately, should all be seriously acknowledged. I dont claim to know exactly what all this wacky Russian activity is leading to or even hinting at. But I do claim to know that Russia's recent acts, decisions and secret mergence with China aren't the types of news stories that usually come from Democratic Countries and U.S allies.
Let us keep in mind, that we had one U.N. bioterrorism expert announce in 2005 that Russia has been Iraq's "main supplier of the materials and know-how to weaponize anthrax, botulism and smallpox."
Also, It is a FACT that Saddam Hussein rose to power backed by Russian weapons and Russian money. Saddam was in debt to Moscow for over $8 billion for the arms he purchased from Russia when he was captured by U.S. forces.
The historical fact of the matter is that Iraq was a Soviet client state and Russia held a multi-billion-dollar debt and economic interests in Iraq, including contracts to develop the giant West Qurna oil field and other economic projects.
All these little Russian details that seem to be completely OVER-LOOKED by the American media, need to be brought under the microscope and demands more American alertness. We need to stop being naive and only reading American/Local Newspapers, watching only CNN, CBS or MSNBC and just automatically assuming what the American media reports is the ONLY news worthy stories that exist.
This is one of the great technological assests and gifts that the WORLD WIDE Web has offered us; a ticket to anywhere at anytime with just one click of the 'mouse'. Use the Internet to read BBC(The UK News Service) , or go to www.themoscowtimes.com, and read the newspaper in Russia. All the pieces are here for us, however the "CONVIENCE" of these news stories may not be that easily accessed, in lieu of the great American tradgedy; LAZYISM.
I prefer to know more, and I also choose to look deeper into the vague, surface level news flashes that we are so bombarded with. So, as my loyal and dedicated service to myself first, by default, this service extends to all of you; because once I learn something I cant keep it to myself. I have always been this way.
So here is another imperative piece to this eerie Russian puzzle.
YOURS TRULY,
THE POLITICAL SAGE
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Russia sues Bank of New York
Thursday May 17th, 2007 / 22h03
MOSCOW/NEW YORK (Reuters) -
Russia's federal customs service said on Thursday it had sued Bank of New York Co.
From 1996 to 1999, bank employees helped to create a "system through which conditions were made for companies and Russian banks to not make the proper payments, thus inflicting a loss against the Russian Federation," Maxim Smal, a lawyer who said he works on behalf of the Russian agency, said in a telephone interview.
Andrey Strukov, head of the customs service's legal department, said in an e-mail that the Federal Customs Service was filing the lawsuit against the bank for damages against the Russian Federation.
Bank of New York shares fell as much as 4.9 percent early on Thursday before closing down 1.1 percent.
Shares of Mellon Financial Corp.
The lawsuit follows Bank of New York's agreement in November 2005 to pay $38 million to settle two U.S. criminal investigations, including a probe into an alleged money-laundering conspiracy that investigators said moved billions of dollars through the bank's accounts.
Prosecutors said the bank "admitted its criminal conduct," and agreed to pay $26 million to the government and $12 million to other banks that lost money.
Bank of New York said in a statement on Thursday that it had not seen the Russian agency's complaint, but that any such lawsuit would be "totally without merit, if not frivolous."
It also said lawyers purporting to represent the agency had offered to settle for "a tiny fraction of the amount now claimed. Events related to the lawsuit occurred more than ten years ago and were previously resolved by the company."
ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
Some analysts downplayed the lawsuit's significance.
"Although we can't completely ignore the potential ... for some type of financial responsibility to Bank of New York, on the surface, we believe the stock move is overdone on the downside," Banc of America Securities analyst Kenneth Usdin wrote in a research report. He rates Bank of New York "buy."
The U.S. money laundering probe began in 1998 and concerned accounts once controlled by Lucy Edwards, a former vice president in the bank's Eastern European division, and her husband Peter Berlin, as well as others.
In 2000, Edwards and Berlin pleaded guilty to being part of a conspiracy to move $7 billion through Bank of New York accounts, and to helping two Russian banks conduct illegal activities in the United States.
A federal judge sentenced the couple last July to six months home confinement and ordered them to pay $725,000 in restitution and fines.
The merger of Bank of New York and Pittsburgh-based Mellon is scheduled to close around July 1, creating the world's largest custody bank and one of its largest asset managers.
Founded in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, Bank of New York sold its bank branches in October.
Bank of New York shares closed down 46 cents at $40.75, after falling earlier to $39.19. Mellon shares closed up 3 cents at $43.75, after earlier falling to $42.76.
(Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow)
By Tatyana Ustinova and Jonathan Stempel
http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=202398&lang=fra&NewsRubrique=2&pageliste=2
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