Natalia Veselnitskaya: Russian lawyer at 2016 Trump Tower meeting charged in money laundering case

US prosecutors allege that Ms Veseinitskaya obstructed course of justice

Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya has been charged as part of a money laundering case (YURY MARTYANOV/AFP/Getty Images)

The Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr and others in June 2016 promising dirt on Hillary Clinton has been charged in a money laundering case that highlights her ties to the Kremlin.

Natalia Veselnitskaya, who met with President Donald Trump's son in Trump Tower in New York, has been charged with obstruction of justice by the US attorney's office in Manhattan as part of the separate case.

According to a newly-unsealed indictment, Nataliya Veselnitskaya has been charged with obstructing justice by filing a misleading statement in the money laundering case, which was settled in 2017. The court documents show that Ms Veselnitskaya had ties to senior Russian government officials.

The indictment states that the Justice Department asked the Russian government for assistance in the case, which relates to a civil fraud investigation involving a Russian business man and his investment firm. That call for help was refused in a letter that sought t exonerate those involved.

The court documents allege that Ms Veselnitskaya had secretly cooperated with a senior Russian prosecutor in drafting the Russian response, which was filed in federal court in Manhattan.

“In doing so, Veselnitskaya obstructed the civil proceeding,” the indictment said.

The US attorney in Manhattan, Geoffrey Berman, said in a statement that acts like Veselnitskaya’s “undermine the integrity of the judicial process”.

“We take seriously our responsibility to protect the integrity of the judicial proceedings in this district, and we will not stand idly by while outside influences seek to corrupt and pervert that process,” Mr Berman said.

Ms Veselnitskaya represented Prevezon Holdings Ltd, a Russian-controlled company, which in 2017 agreed to pay nearly $6m to settle a US government lawsuit accusing it of laundering proceeds of a $230m tax fraud.

While not related to the latest money laundering case, investigations into the Trump Tower meeting on 9 June 2016 are part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election and any possible collusion with Trump campaign officials.

Donald Trump Jr has said he agreed to the meeting after being promised damaging information on Ms Clinton, President Trump's Democratic opponent in the 2016 election. Mr Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and then-senior campaign aide Paul Manafort also took part in the meeting.

Both Mr Kushner and Mr Trump Jr have acknowledged attending the meeting but have said it amounted to nothing.

Last April, Ms Veselnitskaya also told NBC News in an interview that she was not only a private lawyer, but a source of information for the Russian prosecutor general, Yuri Chaika.

Ms Veselnitskaya, 43, is believed to be in Russia. There was no indication from US officials that they expected her to be sent to New York to face the new charge.