MOSCOW, March 24 (RAPSI) – Arguing that a complaint filed by US prosecutors over a Russian tax fraud scheme allegedly linked to the death of Sergei Magnitsky lacks any merit, defendants filed a new motion to dismiss Friday, according to court documents obtained by RAPSI.

“The Government now concedes that virtually none of the Complaint’s allegations regarding a $230 Million Fraud Scheme relate to the Prevezon Defendants or their owner, Mr. Denis Katsyv,” the motion asserts.

US prosecutors filed a complaint in September seeking the forfeiture of luxury New York City properties and other assets belonging to 11 companies in connection with an alleged money laundering scheme connected with large-scale Russian tax fraud.

In part, the complaint alleges that a Russian criminal organization carried out an elaborate scheme defrauding the Russian treasury of approximately $230 million. The complaint alleges that the proceeds of the fraud were laundered through various shell companies in Russia and abroad.

Prosecutors claim that some of that money was then transferred through Moldovan shell companies to Prevezon Holdings, which in turn used those, commingled with funds from other defendant companies, to purchase an array of New York real estate.

The complaint thus alleged that the properties – listed in the complaint as Defendants in Rem – are forfeitable to the US, “as property involved in money laundering and attempted money laundering transactions, in violation of” US law, according to Wednesday’s order.

The defendants filed a motion to withdraw the claim in December, but withdrew the motion in February without prejudice.

Friday’s motion to dismiss asserts that defendants are not accused of being members of the criminal organization identified in the complaint, or having known about or intended to participate in the alleged tax fraud scheme, or to have played any role in the arrest, detention, or death of Magnitsky.

The complaint goes on to assert, “the Government has conceded that it has no basis for alleging that the Prevezon Defendants or their owner knew about or intended to promote or conceal the $230 Million Fraud Scheme.”