The Red Syndrome (51 page)

I took one copy off the top.

TEN HELD IN MONEY LAUNDERING INVESTIGATION
OF EAGLE BANK OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK, JANUARY 16, 2004. As a lateral part of a money laundering investigation of Eagle Bank of New York, FBI agents
arrested more than 10 people suspected of involvement in a network which laundered millions of dollars through Caribbean,
Australian and South Indian Ocean banks and companies. This
was the second wave of arrests following last week's arrest of
Boris Zhukov, the ring's suspected kingpin. A federal court in
Manhattan ordered a freeze on 96 bank accounts in several New
York banks. The arrests followed earlier suspicions that the largescale laundering of money obtained illegally by ethnically Arab
businessmen was being done through seemingly legitimate businesses. A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice said
tonight that the arrests grew out of an investigation that had
begun by looking into Russian organized crime in Manhattan, which managed criminal enterprises in a dozen foreign countries. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian and
Belarusian criminals immigrated to the U.S. and have used
Manhattan as their base. Officials said some of the money had
been funneled through accounts of shell corporations and related
accounts at Eagle Bank of New York. Zhukov was at the center
of a recent federal money-laundering investigation in the United
States. The investigators said that by examining bank and commercial records they were able to uncover a criminal network of
mainly Russian and Arab businessmen. They said the authorities
had confiscated bank records that could reveal further details on
the network and lead to more arrests.

The investigators said much of the activity appeared to focus
on a company called Sling & Dewey and controlled by Zhukov,
a Belarusian emigre. The investigators said another Belarusian
detained in Germany, Igor Razov, 38, an associate of Zhukov, is
suspected of aiding and providing support to terrorist groups in
Yemen and Libya. Mr. Razov is being held in custody in
Germany pending extradition to his native country, where he was
convicted in absentia for murder in an unrelated matter and was
sentenced to death. The investigators said that the ring may have
laundered hundreds of millions of dollars. Prostitution, drug
sales, tax evasion and protection rackets were some of the sources
of the funds, but a substantial amount of money from additional
sources is suspected, they said. Zhukov was a significant figure in
the early stages of the investigation, they said. Mr. Zhukov had
established himself in the early 19gos in Manhattan, where he,
with a business associate, broadened his activities to include
smuggling young East European women to work in the West as
prostitutes.

Brian Yates, an attorney representing Mr. Zhukov, said that he
would seek a plea bargain with the federal prosecutor due to his
client's close cooperation with federal investigators. "He saved
the country from a disaster," Mr. Yates indicated, but refused to provide any details. The Justice Department declined to comment on Mr. Yates's statement.

"It's already yesterday's news," I said, putting the newspaper back on
top of the pile. Quoting Robert Frost, I added, "In three words I can sum
up everything I've learned about life - it goes on."

Lan smiled.