Russian President Vladimir Putin told top banking and security officials on Friday to tighten controls on "suspicious" bank clients during a meeting called after the murder of the deputy head of the central bank, Russian news agencies reported.
"I consider it indispensable, while observing current laws and the interests of market participants, to refine the regulatory framework for banks' work with clients who by a number of objective criteria raise suspicions of dirty dealings," Putin was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.
Putin said he had called the meeting with Russia's general prosecutor, the interior minister, the central bank chief and a senior FSB official because of the killing of central bank deputy head Andrei Kozlov, who led an anti-money laundering campaign that led 44 banks to lose their licenses this year.
PHOTO: AFP
Putin's comments in the Black Sea resort of Sochi implied he too believed Kozlov, a first deputy chairman of the central bank, had paid the ultimate price for leading the fight on money laundering.
Kozlov, 41, was gunned down by assassins on Wednesday night outside a Moscow sports stadium. His driver died on the spot. Kozlov succumbed to his wounds on Thursday.
"In my view, it is a manifestation of the intensifying situation in the struggle against crime in this area," Putin said of Kozlov's death. Putin said Kozlov had "worked in one of the toughest areas -- he worked with so called problem banks."
Putin called for an inter-agency task force comprised of prosecutors, tax inspectors, central bankers and the security services to be set up to crack down on financial crime.
Russia's bankers, meanwhile, offered big rewards, without giving a sum, if the killers were found. But despite launching a major manhunt police said they had no firm suspects.
The killing of Kozlov, who was also well respected in Western financial institutions, was the highest profile assassination in Moscow in Putin's six years in power.
In his comments, Putin zeroed in on the worst features of Russia's post-Soviet economy that is rampant with corruption.
Many companies work hand-in-glove with fly-by-night banks to operate "slush funds" from which they pay workers cash in hand, bribe officials for contracts and avoid tax liability.
"We are witnessing the laundering of billions of roubles every month as well as transfers of vast funds abroad," Putin said. He said laundered money was being used for "massive bribes, for criminal ends in the wider sense of the word."
Kozlov's killing was an "insolent challenge to all those who work to strengthen law and order in our country," the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said in a statement that called for a rigorous police investigation.
Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika said the investigation was focusing on the theory that Kozlov's murder was linked to his work. "He could have had many enemies," he said.
News reports said Kozlov had been cavalier about his own protection, often moving around without bodyguards, and was easy prey for the gunmen who ambushed him on Wednesday night.
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