From: Jamie Shafer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> New York Post August 21, 1999 BANK MADE KILLING ON MOB By AL GUART The Bank of New York raked in up to $240 million a month in fees as its crime-ridden counterparts in Russia used the bank to loot depositors and launder billions, documents show. BNY is at the center of an international money laundering probe in which officials allegedly funneled billions to off-shore accounts at the behest of banks controlled by the Russian mob. The well-regarded bank raked in huge profits by charging at least one crime-plagued Russian bank, Inkombank, a whopping $56 per money wire transfer - as much as six times higher than a standard rate, documents obtained by The Post show. For example, BNY made 3,131 money transfers for Inkombank in November 1993 totaling $1.8 billion. The following month, the bank moved $2.1 billion in 3,079 transactions. In the first three months of 1995, BNY made $720 million transferring funds on behalf of Inkombank, according to an internal memo written to BNY president Thomas Renyi. "Inkombank is our largest generator of fee income and they are now the largest clearing bank in Russia for domestic transactions," the memo said. An April 1996 letter, written to Fed chairman Alan Greenspan to help Inkombank set up a satellite office in the city, revealed that the bank made 250 payments to BNY each day. "In Russia, our bank is the leading clearer of U.S. dollar payments as well as a major processor of credit," the letter stated. "Needless to say, this is a very important and profitable relationship for our bank." That letter was penned by BNY senior vice president Natasha Gurfinkel Kagalovsky, who is at the heart of the burgeoning scandal. "Having worked with all of the top banks in Russia, there is no question that Inkombank is one of the most stable, sophisticated and technologically advanced commercial banks in Russia," she wrote. The letter was written after Russian banking authorities issued a scathing 200-page audit revealing the bank appeared to be engaged in criminal activity, and recommended severely curtailing its activities. The report was widely publicized, but did not stop BNY from continuing to do business until Inkombank folded last October, claiming $1.5 billion in losses. Meanwhile, BNY will be slapped with a massive class-action lawsuit in the next few weeks for "aiding and abetting" Russian organized crime in ripping off shareholders and depositors of up to 100 Russian banks, lawyer Emmanuel Zeltser said. "Everybody knew for years what was going on," Zeltser said. --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- ONElist: home to the world's liveliest email communities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
