By RIA Novosti,
New York : A former Russian UN official, sentenced by a U.S. court to four years and three months in prison on money laundering charges, has left for Moscow after being handed over to Russian officials.
Kuznetsov, 50, who worked for the United Nations Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, was arrested in September 2005 after borrowing $300,000 from a Russian colleague. U.S. investigators said that he was aware the funds had been acquired by criminal means.
The Russian held diplomatic immunity as a UN employee, but the status was revoked by Kofi Annan, the then-secretary general, paving the way for the FBI to arrest him.
The ex-diplomat was sentenced in October of 2007 by a U.S. district court, and was also ordered to pay a total of $73,000 in fines.
A district court in New York confirmed that on October 31 a payment of $73,000 was received, a requirement for the court to begin considering his return to Russia to serve his remaining time.
Kuznetsov, who has always denied the charges, served part of his term at Allenwood Federal Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania.