Russia reportedly sent a whopping $5 billion through banking giants JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup in a scheme to skirt US sanctions.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing “people familiar with the matter,” investigators at the Justice Department (DOJ) believe Russia used a state-controlled bank to move billions of dollars through correspondent US banks and ultimately into Turkey – disguising the massive transfers as funding for a nuclear plant.
Russia is accused of using unsanctioned entities including Gazprombank, a state lender that allows European countries to import fuel from Russia, in an attempt to establish an offshore dollar fund at Turkey’s state-owned Ziraat Bank.
A DOJ investigation found Gazprombank shifted $3 billion through Citibank and $2 billion through JPMorgan. The large payments triggered alarms at the DOJ, prompting authorities to block and freeze the $2 billion Chase transaction.
The DOJ filed a civil forfeiture suit last year to seize the frozen $2 billion. But the White House reportedly asked the DOJ to back off amid concerns that the order might antagonize Turkey – a country serving major importance for US interests in the Middle East.
The DOJ also says it is not probing JPMorgan or Citi for any wrongdoing in facilitating the billion-dollar transfers.
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