Newsweek: 'Calm Down World,' Says Talbott Responding To Critics on Russian Money Laundering

		NEWSWEEK In the September 6, 1999 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, August 30), Newsweek examines the pros and cons of standardized tests in the U.S. education system and the spread of so-called "high stakes" tests where a student can pass or fail a grade based on this test performance. There is also an excerpt from the upcoming "The Big Test" by Nicholas Lemann about the history of the SAT and the meritocracy such tests created. Also: a follow-up to the resignation of Jamie Tarses, head of ABC Entertainment. (PRNewsFoto)[RT] NEW YORK, NY USA

CIA Believes Suspect in Scheme had Ties With Russian Political Elite; IMF Orders New Audit of Russian Central Bank NEW YORK, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of reports of a huge Bank of New York Russian money-laundering scheme, some Clinton critics have suggested that the key architects of Washington's Russia policy -- Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers -- basically facilitated the fleecing of Russia by looking the other way at corruption. "Calm down world," Talbott replies in an interview with Newsweek in the current issue. "We have been aware from the beginning that crime and corruption are a huge problem in Russia and a huge obstacle to Russian reform. Russian reform is not over," he insisted. But "it's going to take decades (and) the problem will only get worse if you isolate Russia." (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990829/HSSU003 ) The CIA believes that Semyon Mogilevich, a key suspect in the Bank of New York/Russian money-laundering scheme, had business interactions with other members of the political elite, especially former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and former economic czar Anatoly Chubais, U.S. intelligence sources tell Newsweek. Mogilevich and both Chubais and Chernomyrdin deny wrongdoing. Officials say that Russia's political and business elite sought out Mogilevich because of his money-laundering savvy, reports Diplomatic Correspondent Michael Hirsh in the September 6 issue (on newsstands Monday, August 30). Mogilevich also has denied criminal activity, and an FBI official cautioned that, contrary to some reports, there is as yet no direct criminal evidence linking the Bank of New York case to President Yeltsin or his powerful daughter, Tatyana, or to so-called oligarchs like Boris Berezovsky, the industrialist and media baron who is Yeltsin's main financier. Investigators say at least $4.2 billion and as much as $10 billion may been laundered -- funneled through legitimate accounts so it appears clean -- from as early as October 1997 to March of this year. This was done through Bank of New York accounts largely in the name of Benex Worldwide Ltd., a firm that authorities say is controlled by Mogilevich. Authorities believe the money was looted from IMF loans or represents revenues from state assets like aluminum or oil. It might even be legitimate capital fleeing Russia. Newsweek has learned the IMF has asked for a new audit of Russian central-bank transactions.