Head of U.S.-Soviet Amity Group Accused of Hiding Source of Funds

The executive director of the New York-based National Council of American-Soviet Friendship was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday and charged with trying to conceal the origin of $17,000 in U.S. currency given to him in Moscow.

The FBI said that Alan Thomson, 57, was indicted by a grand jury in Buffalo, N. Y., on charges of attempting to evade federal reporting requirements by instructing another individual to direct officers of the Goldome Federal Savings Bank to deposit the money in two separate transactions of less than $10,000 each.

It said that, in making the deposits in separate transactions, Thomson avoided an inquiry from the bank that would have caused it to report the source of the cash to the Comptroller of the Currency.

Thomson was arrested at his home in Brooklyn; after arraignment in federal court, he was released on a $100,000 personal recognizance bond. He did not enter a plea. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

The National Council of American-Soviet Friendship sponsors cultural and student exchanges with the Soviet Union and has affiliates around the county. Last March, about 400 people attended a fund-raising luncheon for the council in Hollywood.