Attorneys for Bank of New York Mellon Corp. filed a motion in a Russian court Wednesday claiming that a lawyer for the Russian customs service falsified evidence in a $22.5 billion lawsuit against the company.
The customs service is suing Bank of New York Mellon for damages related to a case in which an employee helped launder $7 billion from Russia.
The Moscow arbitration court postponed Wednesday's hearing after Bank of New York Mellon's attorneys alleged that Steven Marks, a U.S. attorney for the customs service, falsified the document giving him power of attorney. The arbitration judge said Mr. Marks, who was not in court Wednesday, must appear Feb. 13 to respond to the claim.
Mr. Marks did not return phone calls Wednesday.
The company has paid $38 million of penalties and signed a deal with the Justice Department in which it admitted to failures in monitoring its staff. However, the company was never charged with fraud or money laundering.
The customs service claims that the Russian government was not compensated for taxes that should have been collected on the funds illegally transferred. Bank of New York Mellon argues that the case lacks merit.
