Semyon Mogilevich, described by investigators as a key figure in the probe of possible Russian money-laundering and capital flows through the Bank of New York, said in an interview published today that reports about the case have been exaggerated.

"Russia does not have this kind of money; it's as simple as that," he said of reports that more than $10 billion was transferred from Russia through the New York bank over a year and a half, and that $4.2 billion might have gone through one account in a six-month period.

Mogilevich, 53, has been called the "Brainy Don" because he holds an economics degree and because published reports have identified him as one of the world's most powerful underworld figures. He was interviewed by the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, a racy broadsheet. The newspaper did not say when or where the interview was conducted.