New York bank sued for laundering Russian cash

Moscow’s Arbitration Court has adjourned hearings into the money laundering case against a U.S. bank until May 13. Russia’s Federal Customs Service is suing the Bank of New York (BoNY) for $22.5 billion.

BoNY, which is also an asset management firm after merging with Mellon last year, is being accused of illegally helping to transfer billions of dollars out of Russia in the 1990s.

The bank says any Russian court decision is invalid.

Main prosecution barrister Ekaterina Dukhina says she is confident that Moscow’s Arbitration Court will back the charges and that the decision will be upheld in the United States.

“That money was illegally transferred from Russia through the Bank of New York has been proven in the U.S.,” she said.