Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya charged with obstructing justice in US court

Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who was at the center of a controversial meeting of Trump Tower in 2016, was indicted on Tuesday in federal court of obstruction of justice as part of 39, a case of money laundering and confiscation involving a Russian scheme of tax refund fraud, first discovered by the late Sergei Magnitsky.

Veselnitskaya represented the Cyprus-based real estate holding company, Prevezon Holdings, in a money laundering lawsuit brought by the Ministry of Justice. In the case, the government sought to prove that customers of Veselnitskaya had received and laundered part of the proceeds of a fraudulent scheme by Russia involving corrupt Russian officials.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said Tuesday that Veselnitskaya the court an "intentionally misleading statement opposing a petition from the government".

The petition, according to SDNY, presented "supposed findings of investigation by the Russian government – findings purporting to exonerate Veselnitskaya's clients – under the false pretense that these findings were independently drafted by the Russian government. "

" It is however alleged that Veselnitskaya concealed from the court that she, as a member of the defense team in the Prevezon action, had participated in the drafting of these supposed findings of investigation in secret cooperation with a senior Russian prosecutor, "said federal prosecutors Tuesday. [1 9659003] "Making evidence – submitting false and misleading statements to a federal judge – in order to influence the outcome of an ongoing litigation not only undermines the integrity of the court proceedings, but also threatens the ability of our courts and our government justice is done, "said US Attorney Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, in a statement.

The project was unveiled for the first time by the late Sergei Magnitsky, Russian legal adviser hired by UK-born British businessman Bill Browder, in an effort to unveil the details massive financial fraud in Russia involving corrupt officials of the Russian government. Magnitsky was imprisoned and eventually beaten to death while in detention. Following his death, the United States passed a law on his behalf that provided for sanctions against Russian oligarchs suspected of money laundering.