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The international sting, known as Operation Destabilize, seized
20 million pounds ($25.4 million) in cash and cryptocurrency and
arrested 84 suspects. It was revealed on the same day the U.S.
announced new sanctions against several people at the top of the
money laundering networks.
“For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between
Russian elites, crypto-rich cybercriminals and drug gangs on the
streets of the U.K.," said Rob Jones, NCA director general of
operations. “We have identified and acted against the Russians
pulling the strings at the very top, removing the air of
legitimacy that enabled them to weave illicit funds into our
economy.”
Networks known as Smart Group and TGR Group allowed criminals
and wealthy Russians to convert cash to cryptocurrency and vice
versa, authorities said. They also helped them hide the illegal
source of their funds or evade sanctions that were imposed after
Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russian elites were able to buy property in Britain with the
laundered proceeds, the NCA said.
The Russian state also used the network to funnel funds to spies
operating in other countries, as well as funding journalists
working for the state-controlled RT television network, the NCA
said.
Smart Group was run by Ekaterina Zhdanova, a Russian national,
who has been arrested in France on unrelated charges. She was
sanctioned last year by the U.S.
The sanctions announced Wednesday by the U.S. Treasury targeted
George Rossi, a Russian-born Ukrainian who heads TGR, several of
his associates and related entities. His whereabouts are
unknown.
The networks took a 3% cut of the billions they laundered, often
routing the money through the Middle East, including the United
Arab Emirates.
The network reached across more than 30 countries as it
laundered assets as diverse as those from South American cartels
and the Irish Kinahan crime syndicate that has trafficked drugs
and firearms around the world, the NCA said.
Law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Ireland, France and the
UAE were involved in the operation.
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