By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
A ‘billion-dollar’ money laundering network active in the UK bought a bank in Kyrgyzstan to fund Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, according to the NCA (National Crime Agency).
The organization said criminals used the bank to avoid sanctions, laundering dirty money to Russia.
Police arrested 45 people suspected of laundering cash. They also seized £5.1 million ($6.7 million) in cash.
UK 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 to detect, disrupt, and prosecute anyone engaging in activity for a hostile foreign state.”
The crackdown is the second phase of ‘Operation Destabilise’, which was set up to target money launderers working for the network.
“For a fee, the launderers collect ‘dirty’ cash generated from the drugs trade, firearms supply, and organised immigration crime,” the NCA said.
It added that the money laundering network then converts the illicit finance “into ‘clean’ cryptocurrency”.
“These ‘cash to crypto’ swaps are an integral part of a global criminal ecosystem. [This] spans sanctions evasions and the highest levels of organised crime. Including providing money laundering services to the Russian state,” the NCA said.
“Together with our partners, we are actively combatting this threat and have significantly restricted this network’s operations.”
Sal Melki, Deputy Director for Economic Crime at the NCA said: “Today we can reveal the sheer scale at which these networks operate.
“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.”
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