Money Laundering Update

Vladimir Kuznetsov was formally indicted and arraigned on charges that he helped hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in payouts from companies seeking UN contracts.^[1]

According to the indictment, Mr. Kuznetsov established an offshore company in 2000 to hide proceeds he received from a UN procurement officer, who was not named.^[2] The officer apparently had taken payments from foreign companies seeking goods and services contracts.^[3] He was charged with a single count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Some people suspect that the unnamed procurement officer is Alexander Yakovlev,^[4] who we discussed here, and who is suspected to be cooperating with Federal prosecutors.^[5]

Conspiracy to commit money laundering is covered by 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h), which states that anyone who conspires to commit any money laundering offense will be punished as prescribed for a commission of the offense. The Supreme Court recently determined that an overt act requirement is not part of section 1956(h), which we previously discussed here.

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[1] Pat Milton, U.S. Court Indicts U.N. Chair Kuznetsov, Guardian Online, Spet. 2, 2005, available here. There is no explanation why the spelling of his name changed from this morning.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Irwin Arieff, Russian UN Diplomat Charged With Money-Laundering, Reuters.co.uk, Sept. 2, 2005, available here.
[5] Id.