share2,1- Archive, compil, WeirdWorld, Water, Iceberg,

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The Great Alignment on Schedule | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Largest Iceberg & Crazy Weather | Armstrong Economics

 

 

* * * New Jersey To Now Tax Water Supply as Well – Creative Greed of Taxes | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Has 95 become the New 65 for Retirement? | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Trump Revolution Spreads to Democrats & They Miss the Point of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Until We Understand the Real Wealth of a Nation Progress Cannot be Achieved When We Try to Eliminate the Business Cycle | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Trade Wars & Rising Interest Rates – The Top Concerns of Fund Managers | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Fake News & Their Conspiracy with the Deep State Exposed | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Another Banned Documentary Hidden from Americans Concerning Russia | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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US Border Seizes $500,000 Inheritance Mailed from Canada to USA | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Climate Change is Real – Do Droughts Last 8.6 Years? | Armstrong Economics

 

 

 

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Australian Drought Getting Really Bad

 

 

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Is CNN Creating a Civil War? | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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California State Employee Slept for 3 hours per Day on the Job | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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The Refugee Crisis – Germany Can't Find 50% of those They Now Want to Deport | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Refugees Storming Ceuta Border to Get Free Welfare | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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Ascension Report: Summer Solstice and Beyond | Astraea et Amora

 

 

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The Rainbow Gateway | Astraea et Amora

 

 

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Healthcare Reform | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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The Arcturian-Andromedan-Spaceship Is Finalizing and Anchoring the City of Light New Raetia in Northern Italy » Stankov's Universal Law Press

 

 

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Magnitsky Affair & the Murder of Edmond Safra in Monaco | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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CNN Confirmed Money Was Stolen from IMF | Armstrong Economics

 

 

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		News > International
		BoNY fires 2nd employee September 2, 1999: 7:19 p.m. ET Second high-level employee fired as money laundering probe continues NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Bank of New York Thursday fired a second employee in a widening probe concerning allegations that billions of dollars in illicit Russian funds were funneled through the bank's coffers.      Svetlanda Kudryautsev, an international banking associate with the bank's New York operations, was terminated for not cooperating with the ongoing investigation into accounts that authorities allege were opened and used by Russian businessmen to launder as much as $15 billion in ill-gotten funds, sources familiar with the investigation said. She was not an officer of the bank.      Kudryautsev's termination follows by less than a week the dismissal of Lucy Edwards, a Russian-born vice president who was responsible for its Eastern European division. The two senior-level executives worked under Natasha Kagalovsky. Kagalovsky, who worked in the bank's London office, has been suspended, according to sources.      Bank of New York spokesman Cary Giacalone confirmed that Kudryautsev was dismissed.      The plot thickens      Authorities have been investigating whether Russian immigrant Peter Berlin's accounts at the Bank of New York were used to launder money -- an act intended to disguise the origins of money procured from illegal activities. Part of the process involves depositing the money in numerous legitimate bank accounts, making it difficult to trace.      Berlin was married to Edwards, one of the central figures authorities are investigating for criminal activities. And Edwards was fired last week for alleged "gross misconduct," violations of the bank's internal policies, falsification of bank records and failure to cooperate in the investigation, according to people familiar with the situation.      Kudryautsev's firing is the latest incident related to allegations of fraud swirling about the Bank of New York and a widening list of other U.S. and European banks and securities firms.      Reports published Thursday quote investigators as saying they suspect Russian organized crime groups are actively trying to infiltrate the U.S. financial system. They accuse the groups of setting up "moles" within key positions at major Western banks and securities firms to help them launder money and conduct other illegal transactions.      "Pure speculation"      According to people close to the investigation, the Federal Reserve is reviewing the practices and procedures Bank of New York had in place to combat money laundering. The district attorney in New York City's borough of Manhattan is also investigating money transfers at the bank, and Internal Revenue Service investigators are also assisting in the federal probe.      At the same time, a senior source within the Federal Bureau of Investigation told CNNfn that the notion of Russian "moles" planted in various U.S. banks is "pure speculation," noting that its recent FBI sting operation involving narcotics and money laundering was "totally unrelated" to events unfolding at Bank of New York and other institutions.      The BankBoston case involves a customer service representative indicted on charges that she helped a group of Russian businessmen launder what undercover agents posing as narcotics traffickers represented to the Russians as drug money, according to sources involved.      The agents gave more than $2.7 million in cash to the businessmen, who were based mostly in New York. In return, they sent the agents checks from more than 64 bank accounts, a number of which were from the West Newton, Mass., BankBoston branch where the customer-services representative, Oksana Galchanskaya, worked.      Galchanskaya's lawyer says she wasn't involved in the alleged scheme and didn't know the alleged launderers.      IMF speaks out      A number of accounts at other U.S. banks are believed by authorities to be connected to the case, the paper said. These include business or individual accounts at Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank, First Union Corp.'s CoreStates Bank, Chase Manhattan Corp.'s Chase Manhattan Bank.      Separately, the International Monetary Fund Thursday said it will not cut off its support payments to Russia, and that it is maintaining its stance that it has no evidence that monetary aid has been diverted into the alleged money laundering scandal.      In the first of what is expected to be a regular series of briefings to reporters, IMF External Affairs director Thomas Dawson said the IMF was considering implementing safeguards to determine how Russia uses future IMF money and to avoid potential abuse of those funds.      At the same time, he said the organization will wait for a new report from auditors PriceWaterhouse Coopers before deciding whether to pay further installments on an existing $4.5 billion loan.      "There is absolutely no evidence of any diversion or misuse of IMF funds," Dawson said, in the first of a planned series of regular IMF news briefings. "We take the allegations extremely seriously, but we have found no evidence in that regard."      No date had been set for the IMF to discuss Russia, though officials will convene in Washington for the IMF-World Bank annual meetings later this month.      Dawson noted that the claims of money-laundering remained vague and he stressed that the IMF, which has loaned Russia some $22 billion since 1992, did not make payments to commercial banks.

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Russian scandal widens
	August 26, 1999: 7:39 p.m. ET Manhattan D.A., Russian government joins growing list of investigators
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - An investigation into alleged money laundering by a Russian crime syndicate through two U.S. banks widened Thursday as Russian investigators and the Manhattan District Attorney's office joined a growing list of legal and regulatory officials seeking answers.      A week ago, 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).      From there, more details of money laundering and mobsters have surfaced, prompting officials in the Washington to call for Congressional hearings. The New York Times first reported the story last Thursday.      To delve to the bottom of the alleged money laundering operations, a wide array of government and regulatory agencies from at least three different countries are launching a full-blown investigation into the matter - with the cooperation of the U.S. banks involved, according to sources familiar with the situation. That list of investigators widened Thursday to include the New York U.S. District Attorney's office as well as the Russian government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the British government and the International Monetary Fund are also part of the probe.      "We are completely cooperating with authorities," said Frank Scarangella, a spokesman for the Bank of New York. There have been no allegations at all of the Bank of New York's involvement."      A sordid tale      According to published reports in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, the story began in 1994 when Russia's IMF representative, Konstantin Kagalovsky, left the organization to join the Menatep Bank in Moscow.      Over the next three years, it's alleged, Kagalovsky arranged to funnel billions of IMF money meant to help fix Russia's financial woes through a private company called Benex Worldwide Ltd. and eventually into and back out of the two New York-based banks.      In 1998, Republic Bank alerted authorities about unusually large wire transfers coming through its coffers from Russia. From that point, British and U.S. law enforcement officials monitored the ebb and flow of cash through both banks, including monitoring an account specifically held open at their request.      "There was an account, not in the name of Benex, that was opened at Republic National Bank, and it has remained open at the specific written request of U.S. authorities," said spokeswoman Melissa Krantz. "We have been cooperating with U.S. law enforcement officials for some time. We were the ones who filed the report that initially triggered them onto this," she said.      As for Bank of New York, it has suspended two executives - Natasha Gurfinkel Kagalovsky and Lucy Edwards - both of whom worked for the bank's Eastern European division. Konstantin Kagalovsky is Ms. Kagalovsky's husband.      The list goes on      Other key players in the ever-widening saga include Peter Berlin, the husband of Ms. Edwards who opened Benex-related accounts at the Bank of New York and Semion Mogilevitch, an alleged Russian money launderer who at one point was suspected of channeling funds through YBM Magnex International Inc., a now-defunct industrial magnet producer whose shares were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, according to the Journal.      Money laundering typically involves taking large cash deposits from individuals or businesses when the money is either suspected or known to have been obtained from illegal activities or for illicit purposes. The Bank Secrecy Act requires all U.S. banks to report cash deposits of $10,000 or more, as does the Money Laundering Act of 1986.      With all the accusations and suggestions focusing on Russia, at least one U.S. lawmaker suggested that, if money has been stolen, IMF loan payments to Russia should be suspended. Russia said on Wednesday it expects to receive the next $640 million installment of a $4.5 billion IMF package.      "Clearly the loan payment shouldn't go out if it's going to be handled the way the past has been handled," said House of Representatives Banking Committee Chairman Jim Leach. "If money is to be stolen it shouldn't be transferred."      The House Banking Committee plans to hold hearings next month to explore the impact on U.S. banks of money laundering and on international financial corruption.      For its part, the IMF has opted to downplay its role in the sordid tale.      Repeating a statement prepared by the IMF on Monday, spokesman William Murray said "the allegations of money laundering in Russia are extremely serious and we are looking further into the matter."      --from staff and wire reports

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