Russian war being funded by ‘billion-dollar money laundering network’ in London

Operation Destabilise is targeting the vast criminal network

The Russian war effort is being funded by a “billion-dollar money laundering network” which is operating across 28 different cities in the UK. This vast network purchased a bank in Kyrgyzstan to evade sanctions and made payments in support of Russian military efforts.

The launderers collect ‘dirty’ cash generated from the drugs trade, firearms supply, and organised immigration crime, and convert it to ‘clean’ cryptocurrency. The National Crime Agency says this is helping fund the Russian war, evasion of sanctions and some of the highest levels of organised crime. Operation Destabilise is targeting these money launderers across the 28 UK cities and towns they are operating in.

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.”

Two Russian money laundering networks have been exposed as part of the NCA-led operation – TGR and Smart. The two networks worked together to launder money for crime groups involved in cybercrime, drugs and firearms smuggling. The groups also helped their Russian clients avoid financial restrictions to invest money in the UK.

Who runs the networks?

Smart is run by 39-year-old Russian national 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 people based in the UK and Europe, including a group of Bulgarian nationals, led by convicted spy for Russia, Orlin Roussev.

TGR is headed up by George Rossi, his second in command Elena Chirkinyan, and Andrejs Bradens – also known as Andrejs Carenoks. A company linked to Rossi, called Altair Holding SA, was sanctioned by the UK after it was found to own a large stake in a Kyrgyzstan-based bank, called Keremet Bank, used for sanction evasion.

Russian-Moldovan oligarch Illan Shor was also involved in the sanctions’ evasion scheme linked to Keremet. He 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.

All six senior members of Smart and TGR were sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control in December, while Zhdanova is currently being held in pre-trial detention in France.

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.”

Inside Operation Destabilise

Operation Destabilise has led to a total of 128 arrests, with over £25 million seized in cash and cryptocurrency in the UK alone. In April, two men were sentenced to a combined 13 years for laundering £6 million following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

Valeriy Popovych and Vitaliy Lutsak used criminal cash to purchase vans and lorries in the UK before selling them in Ukraine. The pair then converted the profit into cryptocurrency.

They would pick up cash from convicted money launderer Semen Kuksov, who was working for Nikita Krasnov of the Smart Group. During arrest, a search of Popovych’s house uncovered £130,000 in cash. He was also able to purchase a second house valued at almost £1 million in South West London.

A cash courier called Giorgi Tabatadze was also jailed for three months in March, for helping the networks to launder £2.2 million. Tabatadze was arrested by NCA officers in April 2024 and over £750,000 in cash was seized from his car and home address. He was told to to drive around the UK collecting and delivering criminal cash for the money laundering scheme.

Operation Destabilise has made it harder for Russian-speaking laundering networks to operate in the capital, as well as making it harder for them to access the legitimate banking sector.

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