The leaders of a multi-billion dollar money laundering network operating across Britain bought a controlling stake in a Kyrgyz bank to facilitate the circumvention of sanctions and support Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
In an update on the international investigation into Russian money laundering networks – – – – – the NCA highlights the scale of the structures being dismantled. According to the agency, these networks convert money from street crime into cryptocurrency and link the local drug trade with organized and even state-sponsored crime.
In December last year, the NABP and the US Treasury Department turned their attention to two networks - TGR and Smart - which are believed to be used by wealthy Russians to circumvent sanctions. According to London, the same structures laundered funds for drug traffickers, criminal groups and intelligence networks through a "cash for cryptocurrency" scheme.
The global operation has so far arrested 128 people in various countries, including the US, France, Spain and Ireland. In the UK alone, more than £25m ($33m) in cash and cryptocurrency has been seized, the NABP said.
The US Treasury Department said in December it had imposed sanctions on members of groups it said were helping the Russian elite use cryptocurrency to evade sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The NABP said the TGR network was linked to the purchase of a majority stake in “Keremet Bank“, a Kyrgyz credit institution sanctioned by the US. According to Washington, the sale, carried out by the Kyrgyz Finance Ministry, was intended to create a “sanctions evasion centre“ for Russian trade payments. The bank said it would appeal the decision.
According to the NABP, the stake in “Keremet Bank“, which facilitated cross-border payments in support of companies in the Russian defense, aviation and technology sectors, was owned by a company linked to George Rossi.
US and British authorities believe that Rossi - a Ukrainian citizen sanctioned by the US - is the head of the TGR network.