A court filing in New York by Hermitage Capital Management, the UK hedge-fund firm run by Anglo-American William Browder, has thrown light on a long-running dispute between Hermitage and the Russian government over a USD230m tax refund, which, it was alleged, was applied for fraudulently.
According to the court filing, in 2007 Russia's Interior Ministry raided Moscow Hermitage's offices and those of its local lawyers on the grounds of a tax enquiry. Documents were confiscated that enabled fraudsters to take control of three Hermitage subsidiaries and install new executives. These executives, the filing alleged, forged contracts and filed bogus lawsuits to create liabilities, which formed the basis of an application for USD230m in tax refunds.
The filing goes on to state that the refund request was granted and the money was transferred to two small Russian banks and subsequently moved abroad through two New York correspondent banks, Citibank, NA and JPMorgan Chase Bank, to accounts that "upon information and belief" are controlled by members of the criminal enterprise. The two US banks' involvement in laundered proceeds of frauds were alleged to be innocent and unknowing.
Laura Swain, a US district judge in Manhattan, ordered that Hermitage Capital Management may subpoena JPMorgan Chase Bank and Citibank, NA for testimony and records relating to wire transfers that Hermitage said would aid its four pending cases in Russia. The filing alleges that senior officers and former senior officers of Moscow investment bank Renaissance Capital Holdings, including current chief executive Stephen Jennings, had "working relationships" with Dmitry Klyuyev, a convicted fraudster and alleged owner of USB, an obscure Russian bank; it is also alleged that Renaissance had prior knowledge of the fraud involving Hermitage and had been the victim of a similar tax fraud. In order to seek more evidence on this, the judge's order also covers records and testimony from RenCap Securities, Inc., a US subsidiary of Renaissance.
Renaissance has issued a statement in Moscow denying all knowledge of the allegations made by Hermitage.
.
Network Tweets
Network BlogsContent
provided by
|
Archive | Resources | Partners | Site Map | Links | Newsletter Archive | Contact | RSS Feeds | About | Syndication | Advertising & Marketing | Recruitment | Terms & Conditions | Privacy & Cookies
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment