Russian lawyer at Trump Tower meeting charged in money laundering case

US federal prosecutors have charged Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who attended a controversial meeting with officials of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, with obstruction of justice in connection with a separate money laundering and forfeiture case.

Court documents published on Tuesday said Veselnitskaya had attempted to sabotage the US Justice Department's investigation into an alleged case of money laundering by Prevezon Holdings, a Russian investment company in which she is accused of acting criminally as a lawyer.

Prevezon has been sued by the US government in New York for allegedly laundering part of $230m stolen by a Russian criminal network into upscale Manhattan condominiums.

The Russian lawyer was accused by the US attorney in Manhattan of filing an "intentionally misleading" document related to the money laundering case and presenting fabricated evidence to the court that led to her clients’ acquittal.

"Fabricating evidence — submitting false and deceptive declarations to a federal judge — in an attempt to affect the outcome of pending litigation, not only undermines the integrity of the judicial process, but it threatens the ability of our courts to ensure that justice is done," Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey Bernman said.

“We take seriously our responsibility to protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings in this district, and we will not stand idly by while outside influences seek to corrupt and pervert that process,” Berman added.

The federal prosecutors claimed that the evidence, which was believed to have been drafted by Russian authorities, was actually fabricated by Veselnitskaya, who had ties to a senior Russian prosecutor allegedly responsible for drafting the papers.

In the Prevezon case, the 43-year-old submitted a declaration that purported to have "been independently drafted by the Russian government," and which supposedly exonerated her clients, prosecutors said.

Veselnitskaya is accused of hiding from the judge that she had "participated in drafting those supposed exculpatory findings in secret cooperation with a senior Russian prosecutor," according to federal prosecutors.

Angel Melendez, a senior FBI official in New York, said, “Veselnitskaya secretly schemed with a senior Russian prosecutor to provide false information to US law enforcement in an attempt to influence the legal proceedings in the southern district of New York.”

Melendez said the Russian national was not in custody but a "wanted person” in the US.

As a result of committing the offense, Veselnitskaya has been ordered to forfeit all property and she will face a maximum sentence of ten years in prison if proven guilty of obstruction of justice.

The indictment has nothing to do with Veselnitskaya's meeting at Trump Tower, where people close to the then-Republican candidate promised to “dish the dirt” on his rival, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

PressTV-Trump admits son met Russian for dirt on Clinton

US President Donald Trump has admitted his oldest son met a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer in June 2016.

Trump’s son, Donald Jr., along with the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and the then-chairman of Trump's campaign, Paul Manafort, and several Russians had attended the meeting in June 2016.

The controversial meeting remains a subject of investigation by US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has been investigating an alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

Manafort shared 2016 polling data with Russian associate

Court filings published on Tuesday said Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, had been accused by Mueller of sharing polling data on the 2016 election with a Russian man linked to Moscow’s intelligence agencies.

The special counsel alleged that Manafort “lied about sharing polling data with Mr. Kilimnik related to the 2016 presidential campaign,” according to court papers.

Manafort's lawyers pushed back against the special counsel, saying he had never lied to federal investigators.

Manafort "provided complete and truthful information to the best of his ability" over the course of 12 meetings with federal prosecutors and FBI agents, the court filing said.

"He attempted to live up to the requirements of his cooperation agreement and provided meaningful cooperation relating to several key areas under current government investigation," the court papers added.

Last August, Manafort was convicted of bank and tax fraud charges. The former chairman of Trump's campaign later agreed to cooperate with Mueller's office to avoid trial in a separate case on financial fraud charges. 

Mueller, a former FBI director, has been running a high-profile investigation into allegations that the Republican presidential candidate won the 2016 US presidential election against Clinton only because Moscow had rigged the election in his favor.

US intelligence agencies claim Russia-linked hackers provided WikiLeaks with damaging information -- in the form of thousands of hacked emails -- about Clinton to skew the 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump.

Trump has repeatedly denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and has condemned the investigations. Russian President Putin has also denied the allegations.

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