In 2013, the US Department of Justice, represented by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York,
Preet Bharara, sued Prevezon Holding, a Republic of Cyprus corporation registered in New York State as a foreign business corporation, under the
Magnitsky Act for
money-laundering. The lawsuit sought forfeiture of various assets and real estate holdings in the US.
[13][14] The sole shareholder of Prevezon is Russian citizen
Denis Katsyv, whose father is Petr Katsyv, vice president of Russia's state-run rail monopoly and "reportedly a business associate of
Vladimir Yakunin, a confidant of
Vladimir Putin".
[14][15] Katsyv’s Russian lawyer
Natalia Veselnitskaya is not licensed to practice in the US, and Katsyv hired the law firm of
BakerHostetler to represent Prevezon; BakerHostetler hired Fusion GPS early in 2014 to provide research help for the litigation, although BakerHostetler was later thrown off the case.
[16][17][15][18] In May 2017, two months after President Trump had dismissed Bharara, the lawsuit was settled for $6 million, without Prevezon admitting to any wrongdoing and with both sides claiming victory.