LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) - Barclays has beendragged into an international money laundering investigationafter U.S. prosecutors discovered that Arthur Budovsky, thefounder of digital currency exchange Liberty Reserve, held anaccount with the British bank.
U.S. prosecutors have filed an indictment against theoperators of Liberty Reserve, accusing the Costa Rica-basedcompany of helping criminals around the world launder more than$6 billion in illicit funds linked to everything from childpornography to software for hacking into banks.
"Barclays can confirm it is co-operating with theinvestigation, following the notification it received from theauthorities," a spokesman for the bank said on Sunday.
The 119-page indictment from U.S. authorities unsealed onTuesday says on page 45 that Budovsky held an account withBarclays Bank in Spain ().
Budovsky, who was arrested in Spain last Friday, opened thepersonal account in 2009, a source familiar with the situationsaid on Sunday.
The source added that Barclays has not been accused of anywrongdoing.
Barclays (BARC)