Indictments a US political ploy 8212; Kremlin

Alexander Livshits said Russia had thus been unfairly stripped of a promised 640-million-dollar payment from the International Monetary Fund IMF urgently expected here this month.

8220;One thing is to investigate specific people and specific companies,8221; Livshits told NTV television. 8220;But our IMF talks should not go like this. I think that a political factor is influencing the IMF,8221; he said.

Livshits was responding to news from New York that US federal prosecutors had obtained indictments against three people and brought charges againstthree Russian companies in connection with a vast money-laundering scandal.

The charges accuse Peter Berlin, Lucy Edwards and Alexei Volkov, as well as the companies Benex, Becs International and Torfinex of involvement in a scheme to launder nearly Dollars seven billion through the bank of New York Bony.

According to the US, British and Italian reports the investigation has also zeroed in on at least 12 current or former members of Yeltsin8217;s Government.

These included Yeltsin8217;s daughter Tatyana Dyachenko, former economy chief Anatoly Chubais, banker Vladimir Potanin and Livshits himself.

The weight of the allegations prompted US lawmakers to call for a freeze for future IMF payments to Russia until the allegations were cleared up.

IMF decided to delay the latest tranche payment after a visiting Moscow delegation failed to explain away the charges last month.

The fund has loaned some 20 billion dollars to Russia this decade. Washington media reported that nearly half of that sum was launderedthrough New York banks.