<
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/04/global-investigation-exposes-alleged-billion-dollar-russian-money-laundering-network>
"Operatives said to be behind a billion-dollar Russian money-laundering network
– used by drug dealers, financial criminals and foreign spies – have been
sanctioned and arrested in a coordinated international investigation led by the
National Crime Agency.
The UK law enforcement body, which tackles serious and organised crime, said
the actions constituted the “most significant money laundering operation” it
had undertaken in the past few years. The operation involved America’s Federal
Bureau of Investigation, France’s Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire
and Ireland’s Garda.
The networks are said to have laundered cash and cryptocurrencies for serious
and organised crime gangs in the UK and across the west; Russian hacking
groups, which extract ransom payments from corporations after disabling their
computer networks; as well as “Russian elites seeking to bypass sanctions”,
including in the UK.
The agency added that the scheme had serious real-life implications, as it was
directly linked to laundering drug money made on the streets of the UK.
In total, Operation Destabilise identified the alleged heads of the laundering
networks and resulted in the arrest of 84 people plus the seizing of more than
£20m in cash and cryptocurrency, the NCA said.
It was unveiled as the US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced
sanctions against a series of Russian-speaking men and women heading the money
laundering network.
Rob Jones, the NCA’s director general of operations, said: “Operation
Destabilise has exposed billion-dollar money laundering networks operating in a
way previously unknown to international law enforcement or regulators.
“For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between Russian
elites, crypto-rich cyber criminals, and drugs gangs on the streets of the UK.
The thread that tied them together – the combined force of [alleged money
laundering groups] Smart and TGR – was invisible until now.”
The NCA said that Ekaterina Zhdanova, who was sanctioned last year by OFAC for
allegedly helping ransomware groups receive and launder illicit funds, headed
Smart. She is said to have worked alongside the TGR boss, George Rossi, whose
location is unknown to the international law enforcement coalition. Rossi’s
second-in-command is Elena Chirkinyan.
The NCA outlined how Smart and TGR laundered cash for transnational crime
groups such as the Kinahans, the family-run crime syndicate said to be
responsible for trafficking drugs and firearms into the UK and internationally,
who were sanctioned by the US in 2022.
From late 2022 to summer 2023, the Smart network was used to fund unspecified
Russian espionage operations, the NCA said, while the money launderers also
helped Russian clients avoid UK sanctions."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
