| Russia
Sanctions Left VTB Without Counsel So
Default In SDNY But Now Lawyer Appears
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
BBC-Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
NY
Mag
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
August 30 – Sanctions on
Russia have an unnamed US
financial institution
unwilling to process a wire
transfer to pay the Brafman
& Associates law firm to
represented VTB Bank in the
case Schansman et al v.
Sberbank of Russia PJSC et
al.
On June 23
Brafman & Associates' Zach
Intrater filed an affidavit
about his efforts with U.S.
District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Magistrate Judge Gabriel W.
Gorenstein, now on Patreon here:
"On Wednesday,
June 15, 2022, I spoke with a
representative from OFAC
regarding my firm’s
interpretation of the
applicable federal
regulations governing
payments to attorneys by
blocked entities.
7. On Thursday,
June 16, 2022, I participated
in phone calls with
representatives of VTB Bank
regarding the retention issue.
I also communicated, via
e-mail and phone, with a
representative of the
financial institution (“the
Financial Institution”) at
which my firm maintains
its attorney trust account. At
12:32 pm, the representative
of the Financial
Institution sent an email on
which I was copied. The
email stated, in
substance, that the
representative had met with
other employees of the
Financial Institution in an
effort to resolve the
issue. The email further
stated that, although the
payment of funds by VTB
Bank was legal, the Financial
Institution would not accept a
wire transfer from
Russia because it was outside
the Financial Institution’s
“risk framework.”
...my firm is
still unable to receive
payment of any funds as a
retainer in this matter. This
is so notwithstanding that the
payment would be legal
pursuant to the applicable
federal regulations and
statutes, and notwithstanding
the continued best efforts
of representatives of
VTB Bank to figure out a way
to have new counsel (our
firm) represent them in this
matter."
On August 22,
Judge Gorenstein ruled
"Because it is not represented
by an attorney, VTB Bank PJSC
is now in default."
But on August 30,
a notice of appearance for it:
"NOTICE OF APPEARANCE by
Robert Seabrook Landy on
behalf of VTB Bank PJSC."
Landy for
example represents WEN BAI,
XIAOLING CAO, YAN CAO, YEQIAN
CAO, BIN CHEN, LI CHEN, QIANG
CHEN, WEILI CHEN, FANGZHOU
CHENG against New York City
Regional Center LLC.
Inner City Press will continue
to cover this.
The case is
Schansman et al v. Sberbank of
Russia PJSC et al., 19-cv-2985
(Carter / Gorenstein)
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a
month helps keep us going and grants you
access to exclusive bonus material on our
Patreon page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2022 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
