Russian Officials Seize $1.6 Million And Gold At Sobinbank
MOSCOW, Oct 14, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Russian economic crime investigators on Wednesday ended a search of the Sobinbank in Moscow, which saw the confiscation of $1.6 million and six kilograms (13 pounds) of gold from a private safe-deposit box, the Interfax agency reported.
Investigators also seized financial documents from Sobinbank, one of Moscow's largest banks, and will now try to determine who owns the assets, Interfax said.
The bank is suspected of illegally transferring large sums of money through accounts it maintains at the Bank of New York.
The New York Times reported in August that billions of dollars from the Russian mob had moved through the Bank of New York in what could be the biggest money laundering scheme in US history.
Investigators believe up to $15 billion dollars -- including some IMF loans -- was diverted through New York bank accounts by Russian organized crime and members of Russia's political and business elite, according to USA Today.
Russian financial authorities are also investigating the Flamingo bank and the Bank of Deposits and Clearing, which they also suspect of being connected with the scandal at the Bank of New York.
Russian minister for taxes Alexander Pochinok said one bank, which he did not identify, was the "ideological center" of the scandal.
"The operations were all carried out in a similar way," he said, adding that the bank in question was at the heart of financial transfers by about ten satellite banks. ((c) 1999 Agence France Presse) |
