Last year, on April 4, 2019, the family of Quinn Lucas Schansman filed a lawsuit against Russia’s Sberbank and VTB Bank, as well as the Western Union Co., Western Union Financial Services, MoneyGram International and MoneyGram Payment System.
Schansman, 18, was the lone American killed when Russian militants shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in 2014. The lawsuit sought unspecified damages from the companies for the death of Schansman.
The banks and U.S. money-transfer firms allegedly provided services to Russia-backed militants that have been identified by the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) as responsible for the downing of the commercial jetliner by a Russian-made Buk missile.