Comments on: Russia Wields RICO Law Against U.S. Bank

Racketeering Law Applied In Moscow Court In $22.5B Lawsuit Against Bank Of New York Mellon

[sharncedar]

This is free trade, Russian style. Meaning they cheat, like every other country except the US, which perversely cheats against itself.

[antoniof123]

Neo cons you have done too much damage to the country and to the world.

It will be a blood bath for you in congress and the senate.

[stevador39]

This is great. If you think about it, it says the banking system is criminally corrupt. It also strongly indicates that this government is supporting a criminally corrupt system against the interest of the American people. Estes Kefauver, where are you, now that we need you? (Kefauver was the Tennessee Senator appointed by the U.S. Senate to prosecute organized crime in the U.S. in the 1950''s)

[mcv57]

Although Russia has a history of breach of contract (civil); America and its organized crime has a history and long, deep track of instill government corruption.

Hypocracy will be the theme; and criminal financial activity will be the prosecution. If media coverage is allowed, this be the greatest public exposure to American government and corporate corruption; and deteriorating foreign trade.

I want front row tickets to this circus. It''s going to be the best soap opera the world has ever witnessed.

[smurfcrusher]

Russians have quite a reputation for organized crime.

Apparently they haven''t learned it makes them look like dirt in the eyes of the world.

[credibility2]

Isn''t this like calling the pot black? If the bank hasn''t been criminally charged in either a US or world court and some associates independently took it upon themselves to launder money, how can RICO be applied in this instance? And for Dershowitz and Blakey to be on the ready to profit from this, even if they only recoup miscellaneous expenses and a guaranteed legal fee regardless of the outcome, shows how desperate these two attorneys are to go wherever the money is without having any integrity or principle. There''s plenty that Russia can be sued for just on the merits of their continuing atrocious human rights violtions. I think Dershowitz and Blakey should lose their law licenses.

[sandy19731]

Headline suggests this is against USBank not New York Mellon.
Interesting case. This should keep the lawyers busy for awhile.

[emperorlotku]

Can our career politicians that have squandered America''s economic vitality by selling their votes to the banking system and corporate interest groups be prosecuted under the RICO act?

[walt1944-2009]

It''s about time that someone held somebody accountable for the mess the world is in financially and you all know it is the BANKS, allied with BIG BUSINESS.

Everybody seems to forget that anybody who is in business is, under the financial atmosphere of the neocon Fascist Nazi Republicans, out to make a profit, A HUGE PROFIT!!! Banks, lending companies, and utilities charge "usuary" fees which are pure PROFIT to them and at YOUR EXPENSE! It''s all a big racket designed to make the rich richer and to keep the poor, POOR!

Incidentally, anyone who thinks that sinply because the trial is being held in a Russian court, means that automatically the Russian government will win, had better explain to me how different that is from a trial held in the US(SA) when BIG BUSINESS or a BANK is the defendant here? How many of our "judges" are unbiased in handing down judgements in trial cases where a BANK or BIG BUSINESS is ABSOLUTELY at fault??

And, in the rare cases where BIG BUSINESS or a BANK loses, they can turn right around and go thru the appeals process for years. They have the money for legal fees( which they can deduct from their tax returns!), and they have the clout, so they go thru the legal process until they get a ruling favorable FOR THEM!

What chance does the average citizen have????

NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It tells you who really runs this country and it''s not US!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!!!
sig heil, TOTALLY MORE OF THE SAME, "SURGE" McCain!!!!

[edintex]

Since the trial will be in a Russian court that historically rules in the "Russian governments favor", the outcome would not be accepted by anyone outside of Russia. To do so would be like trying to get "accurate & unbiased" information from their government run newspaper.

The bigger story should be the two TRAITORS from Harvard; law professor Alan Dershowitz and Robert Blakey. They know what could happen to the US banking system by the frivilous lawsuits, yet they will assist Russia anyway.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE president Bush, if you could do just ONE THING RIGHT before you leave office, PLEASE put Alan Dershowitz and Robert Blakey on the "do not fly" list so they cannot come back to the U.S. after a trial. Those comrades BELONG in Russia.

[dougmsbbs]

We have long passed laws and forced them on the rest of the world. It''s about time someone used them in reverse. I do not know anything about the merits of the case, but it''s nice to see them try. I do worry about the Russian courts, however. They are not known for ruling on the merits of a case. Putin has long been known to use the courts however he wishes to give legitimazation to his takeover of companies. If they can keep it on the up and up, go boys!

[l8c6]

Also, Senator Carl Levin summarizes,"Estimates are that $500 billion to $1 trillion of international criminal proceeds are moved internationally and deposited into bank accounts annually. It is estimated that half of that money comes to the United States".

Yet, not one bank has ever been prosecuted under RICO.

Posted by renrivers



That spells broken and corrupt.

[l8c6]

Ken Thomas, an independent economist retained by the Russian side, warned in a recent letter to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that an adverse ruling could damage the bank''s financial standing and pose a serious systemic risk to U.S. financial markets.

Well, isn''t it something when foreign countries are becoming the system of checks and balances. Should this country turn to it''s military more and more to to deal with such cases, it''ll be clear who the evil empire is.

[l8c6]

Wow, maybe if the basis of our constitution and laws are applied around the world "american" global corporations will not be able to break the law overseas anymore like they have been for decades and with globalization have been doing in the U.S. itself. What a slap in the face when Russia enforces our laws that our hoe politicians pimped by global capital will not.

[pirmin3]

ROFLMAO. This is just too good.

[nojoy01]

Well, this is interesting. And an open invitation for massive confusion. But my primary question is: Can the citizens of the USA file a class action lawsuit against the current ''federated government'' as the successor in fact to the former ''union of soviet socialist republics'' for recovery of the Trillions of $$ spent to prevent the former government from accomplishing its stated goal of world dominion during the ''cold war'' under the RICO act??? ''Course, you can sue anybody at anytime for almost anything and win, but collecting is another story.

[Renegade.Rivers]

It is believable that after all these years, the Russians are doing something that the American prosecutors have never done, that being prosecute the big banks under the RICO act. The federal prosecutors have known for years that big banks, such as the Mellon bank,and Citibank have been laundering money for the mafioso, and various enterprises of the CIA, including arms deals and narcotics trafficking. Yet, to date, no federal prosecutor has ever went after one of the said banks for their illegal money laundering.

In an article written by James Petras, Professor of Sociology at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York in 9-02, he states; "In other words, an incomplete figure of dirty money (laundered criminal and corrupt money) flowing into U.S. coffers during the 1990s amounted to $3-$5.5 trillion. This is not the complete picture but it gives us a basis to estimate the significance of the "dirty money factor" in evaluating the U.S. economy. In the first place, it is clear that the combined laundered and dirty money flows cover part of the U.S. deficit in its balance of merchandise trade which ranges in the hundreds of billions annually."

Also, Senator Carl Levin summarizes,"Estimates are that $500 billion to $1 trillion of international criminal proceeds are moved internationally and deposited into bank accounts annually. It is estimated that half of that money comes to the United States".

Yet, not one bank has ever been prosecuted under RICO.

[wogerwabbit]

It''s a shame that America is so corrupt we have to count on the Russians to do the job.

[smurfcrusher]

nicezoo1 has been reported for SPAMming in violation of Terms of Service.

[patriot12436]

It is about time someone started holding the criminals liable. They say they won''t pay up if they lose, let the Russian govt seize their property. Time to hang all these criminals.