Money Launderer Sought Help from Barclays

The New York offices of U.K.-based money manager Barclays is caught in an international money laundering investigation that implicates a top Russian official with close ties to President Vladimir Putin, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

German prosecutors suspect that Russia's telecommunications minister, Leonid Reiman, a longtime Putin ally, "illegally enriched himself through a series of transactions," and then arranged a network of shell companies and trusts to hide more than $1 billion in assets.

Barclays assisted in moving much of Reiman's money into a fake mutual fund in Bermuda. It also and converted currencies in many of Reiman's deals. As a result of the allegations, the U.S. Department of Justice has begun its own investigation into the role Barclays' New York office played in the scheme.

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