By Tony O’ Reilly-
The National Crime Agency(NCA) have identified that a billion-dollar money laundering network active in the UK purchased a bank in Kyrgyzstan to facilitate sanctions evasion and payments in support of Russian military efforts.
Through Operation Destabilise, the NCA said it and its partners are using operation destabilise to target money launderers who work for this network and are known to operate in at least 28 UK cities and towns.
AD: Capeesh Restaurant
The NCA added that the enterprise benefited criminals all over the world, from Russian-speaking hackers with millions in cryptocurrency, to street gangs in Britain who had physical money they needed to launder. According to the crime agency, launderers working for the group are operating in at least 28 UK cities and towns, where couriers are collecting cash and converting it to crypto.
It has emerged that a company linked to one of the network’s bosses purchased a bank which is facilitating payments that are supporting the Russian military.
The launderers collect ‘dirty’ cash generated from the drugs trade, firearms supply, and organised immigration crime, and convert it to ‘clean’ cryptocurrency.
AD: Oysterian Sea Food Restaurant And Bar
These ‘cash to crypto’ swaps are an integral part of a global criminal ecosystem that spans offending in our communities, sanctions evasions and the highest levels of organised crime, including providing money laundering services to the Russian state.
In the second phase of the operation, the crime agency said a further 45 suspected money launderers have been arrested and over £5.1 million in cash seized in less than 12 months.
Using the intelligence gained on Operation Destabilise, the NCA has supported its international law enforcement partners in seizing $24 million and over EUR 2.6 million from the network. Since its inception, there have been a total of 128 arrests as a result of the operation, with over £25 million seized in cash and cryptocurrency in the UK alone.
Sal Melki, Deputy Director for Economic Crime at the NCA said:
“Today we can reveal the sheer scale at which these networks operate and draw a line between crimes in our communities, sophisticated organised criminals and state sponsored activity. The networks disrupted through Destabilise operate at all levels of international money laundering, from collecting the street cash from drug deals, through to purchasing banks and enabling global sanctions breaches.”
As part of this operation, the NCA has launched a campaign to communicate directly with the money launderers that courier criminal cash, reaching them in locations they are known to operate. The posters and messages (in English and Russian) highlight the risks they are taking by moving money linked to the most harmful crimes in our communities.
Sal Melki added: “Cash couriers play an intrinsic role in this global money laundering scheme. They are in our communities and making the criminal ecosystem function – because if you cannot profit from your crimes, why bother. They are paid very little for the risks they take and face years in prison, while those they work for enjoy huge profits.
“Millions of Britons will have seen these messages at service stations but rest assured, they were not for you. To the launderers who will have seen them, your choice is simple: either stop this line of work, or prepare to come face to face with one of our officers and the reality of your choices. Easy money leads to hard time.”
In December 2024 the NCA exposed two networks, TGR and Smart, as part of Operation Destabilise, the international NCA-led investigation into Russian money laundering networks supporting serious and organised crime around the world.
Smart and TGR collaborated to launder money for transnational crime groups involved in cybercrime, drugs and firearms smuggling. They also helped their Russian clients to illegally bypass financial restrictions to invest money in the UK, threatening the integrity of our economy.
Smart is run by Ekaterina Zhdanova, who worked closely with Khadzi-Murat Magomedov and Nikita Krasnov. In summer 2023, individuals associated with the Russian Intelligence Services attempted to use the Smart Group to provide funding to individuals based in the UK and Europe. This included a UK based group of Bulgarian nationals, led by Orlin Roussev, who have since been convicted of a spying operation across Europe on behalf of Russia.
TGR is headed up by George Rossi, his second in command Elena Chirkinyan, and Andrejs Bradens (also known as Andrejs Carenoks).
All six senior members of Smart and TGR were sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in December and Zhdanova is currently being held in pre-trial detention in France.
In August, ‘Altair Holding SA’, a company linked to Rossi, was sanctioned in the UK as part of a wider crackdown on Russia’s attempts to exploit Kyrgyz financial systems and crypto networks. Altair was identified as owning a controlling stake in Kyrgyzstan-based Keremet Bank which was utilised for sanctions evasion.
Altair Holding SA purchased their 75% stake of Keremet on Christmas Day 2024. Keremet has subsequently been identified as facilitating cross-border payments on behalf of Promsvyazbank, a Russian state-owned bank, which supported companies involved in the Russian military industrial base.
Ilan Shor is a Russian / Moldovan oligarch who was also involved in the sanctions’ evasion scheme linked to Keremet. Shor was arrested in 2014 for the theft of $1 billion from Moldovan banks and has since been identified as engaging in interference in Moldovan elections on Russia’s behalf.
Payment service providers such as Ilan SHOR’s A7 company, which is now sanctioned by the UK and EU, are used to enable both money laundering and malign activity. A7 and Promsvyazbank announced the launch of the A7A5 token, promoted as the world’s first rouble-backed cryptocurrency stablecoin. Networks linked to A7 are likely designed to allow cross-border payments to circumvent sanctions.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said:
“This complex operation has exposed the corrupt tactics Russia used to avoid sanctions and fund its illegal war in Ukraine.
“We are working tirelessly to detect, disrupt, and prosecute anyone engaging in activity for a hostile foreign state. It will never be tolerated on our streets.
“I want to thank every officer for their work uncovering this criminality and intercepting the dirty money networks that bankroll serious organised crime.”
AD: Heritage And Restaurant Lounge Bar