Russia Breaks Up Georgian 'Money-Laundering Ring'
October 17, 2006
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (file photo) (NATO)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the police are trying to cut off flows of money that he said the Georgian government is spend on the military in preparation for the "forceful seizure" of two pro-Russian separatist regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The Russian Interior Ministry said more than 10 banks and credit organizations had been involved in laundering the funds between April 2004 and January 2005.
The announcement comes after a diplomatic row erupted between Moscow and Tbilisi last month over the arrest of four alleged Russian spies.
(Interfax, AP)