Against opposition from the Russian government, a Manhattan federal judge has admitted evidence that may boost efforts by U.S. prosecutors to seize property related to an alleged money laundering scheme.

According to court papers, a Russian criminal syndicate defrauded $230 million from the Russian Treasury in 2007. About $1.9 million was transferred through shell companies to real estate firm Prevezon Holdings and later invested into Manhattan real estate, prosecutors allege.

Hermitage Capital Management, one of the victims of the fraud, had been represented by Sergei Magnitsky, who was arrested in 2008 and died in jail. His death led to the U.S. government's passage of the Magnitsky Act, which denied entry into the United States for Russian officials believed to have been involved with Magnitsky's death.