Vladimir Kuznetsov

Vladimir Kuznetsov (1957 [cite press |title=U.S. JUDGE SENDS FORMER HIGH-RANKING UNITED NATIONS OFFICIAL TO PRISON FOR MONEY LAUNDERING |publisher=United States Department of Justice |date=2007-10-12 |http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/moneylaundering101207.htm |accessdate=2008-06-09] ) was a Russian diplomat who was the head of the United Nations Committee for Administrative and Budgetary Issues. [http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/03/russian_un_official_indicted_in_money_laundering_scheme/ "Russian UN official indicted in money laundering scheme", Boston Globe] ] [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/03/49e8c6e6-06e7-4ce2-87b4-232dff4573a8.html "Former UN Official Convicted Of Laundering Bribes", Radio Free Europe] ] He also served as a diplomat for the Russian Mission. In March 2007, he was convicted in New York City of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E7DD1231F93BA35750C0A9619C8B63&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fU%2fUnited%20Nations%20 "World Briefing | United Nations: Russian Ex-Diplomat Guilty In Bribe Case", New York Times, March 8, 2007] ] In October of the same year, he was sentenced to imprisonment for 51 months and a fine of $73,000. [ITAR-TASS October 12 2007: [http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=11962892&PageNum=0 Russian diplomat sentenced on money laundering charges] ]

Kuznetsov was indicted in September 2005 following a guilty plea and immediate cooperation by the former UN official Alexander Yakovlev, who is facing 20 years in jail on a conspiracy to commit money laundering charge and has not been sentenced. Yakovlev's lawyer, Arkady Bukh, has stated that he expects Mr. Yakovlev's sentence to be significantly reduced in exchange for Yakovlev's testimony at trial. [ [http://kommersant.com/page.asp?id=620287 "Russia’s U.N. Officer Waits for Sentence in Pledged House", Kommersant] ]

Background

Kuznetsov was elected to a three-year term on the budget advisory committee in January 2003. The prestigious panel’s 15 members, including a representative of the United States, then elected him as its chairman. He has worked in various budget-related positions in the U.N. Secretariat and the Russian Mission since 1980.

The chairman is the only member of the ACABQ to draw a U.N. salary and benefits, and also gets diplomatic immunity. Committee members are not UN employees and do not normally enjoy diplomatic immunity. But the General Assembly granted him immunity because of his chairmanship. This diplomatic immunity was waived however, in August, by the UN.

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