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HomeCRIME FIGHTERSOperation Destabilise: NCA Disrupts Multibillion-dollar Russian Money Laundering Networks Linked to Drugs,...

Operation Destabilise: NCA Disrupts Multibillion-dollar Russian Money Laundering Networks Linked to Drugs, Ransomware, Espionage; 84 Suspects Arrested

An international NCA-led investigation – Operation Destabilise – has exposed and disrupted Russian money laundering networks supporting serious and organised crime around the world, spanning from the streets of the UK to the Middle East, Russia, and South America.

Investigators have identified two Russian-speaking networks collaborating at the heart of the criminal enterprise: Smart and TGR.

Operation Destabilise is being revealed today as the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announces sanctions against the Russian-speaking men and women at the head of these networks, as well as four businesses linked to TGR.

A seventh individual, a global money laundering facilitator with strong links to one of the networks, has also been arrested by the NCA’s international partners.

As well as enabling UK-based criminals, Smart and TGR used their global reach to launder money for transnational crime groups such as the Kinahans. The notorious family-run crime syndicate, responsible for trafficking drugs and firearms into the UK and around the world, were sanctioned by the US in 2022.

They also helped Russian clients to illegally bypass financial restrictions to invest money in the UK, threatening the integrity of our economy. From late 2022 to summer 2023, the Smart network was used to fund Russian espionage operations.

NCA-coordinated activity has so far led to 84 arrests, with many already serving prison sentences, as well as the seizure of over £20m in cash and cryptocurrency.

Operation Destabilise uncovered a complex scheme whereby the networks collect funds in one country and make the equivalent value available in another, often by swapping cryptocurrency for cash.

This provides a mutually beneficial service, streamlining the movement of cash generated by crime groups in the West while simultaneously laundering crypto for cyber criminals and helping Russian oligarchs and elites to bypass sanctions.

The UK was a key hub, and the NCA worked closely with partners across UK law enforcement to conduct a series of operations linked to Destabilise. Investigators witnessed exchanges taking place at scale across the country where street-level cash handovers were followed almost immediately by a movement of cryptocurrency of the same value.

After being paid in crypto in exchange for their cash, criminal gangs would use virtual currency to reinvest in their illicit business, buying more drugs or firearms without the need to move any physical money across borders. The financial service provided to such groups perpetuated their violent activity, enabling them to cause serious harm to communities across the UK.https://www.youtube.com/embed/vFoeY8sPMd8?si=2VcF9NU3evJwxpAh

Rob Jones, Director General of Operations at the National Crime Agency, said, “Operation Destabilise has exposed billion-dollar money laundering networks operating in a way previously unknown to international law enforcement or regulators.”

Nik Adams, T/Assistant Commissioner of the City of London Police and NPCC lead for economic crime, added, “The networks disrupted by Operation Destabilise were hidden in plain sight, operating from within our communities, moving vast sums of money linked to the drugs trade and serious violence on our streets.”

Ekaterina Zhdanova

Ekaterina Zhdanova

Smart is headed up by Ekaterina Zhdanova, who worked closely with Khadzi-Murat Magomedov and Nikita Krasnov to facilitate money laundering.

TGR is run by George Rossi, his second-in-command Elena Chirkinyan, and Andrejs Bradens (also known as Andrejs Carenoks).

OFAC has now sanctioned all six in the US.

Smart and TGR have particularly strong links into the Russian financial sector and whilst funds were often routed through the Middle East, their combined global reach extends through over 30 countries

Many of the money laundering transactions were brokered by Zhdanova and Magomedov. Krasnov would work with courier networks in the UK to collect the cash and then arrange to convert it.

TGR and Smart coordinated their activity, with members of the TGR group receiving large volumes of cash on behalf of Zhdanova and facilitating the conversion, making the equivalent value available in cryptocurrency.

One cash courier network investigated conducted cash handovers in 55 different locations across England, Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands over four months. They did so on behalf of at least 22 suspected criminal groups operating in the UK.

A London-based cash courier in this network was being directed by Zhdanova and Krasnov, resulting in over £15 million in criminal cash being laundered. The courier, Fawad Saiedi, was sentenced to four years and four months in prison.

Another investigation uncovered an extensive cash courier network led by Semen Kuksov and Andrii Dzektsa, who coordinated with Krasnov. They managed couriers to launder over £12 million in the UK in two-and-a-half months and coordinated similar operations across Europe.

Kuksov has also been connected to high-turnover crypto-currency wallets. He and Dzektsa were sentenced to five years, seven months and five years in prison, respectively. One courier linked to Kuksov’s network, Igor Logvinov, was arrested by An Garda Siochana (AGS) in Ireland and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

The NCA-led operational activity in the UK did not go unnoticed by the criminal networks. In late 2022 and early 2023, members of the networks investigated were believed to have reservations over operating in London. In the late summer of 2024, Russian-speaking laundering networks in the capital charged high commission rates and believed it was difficult to work in the city.

This activity has also been extremely costly to the networks, which are assessed to operate on very low profit margins – often charging as little as three per cent commission for the amount laundered. Based on this figure, they would need to launder around £700m for free to pay back the £20m seized by the NCA and partners.

Smart and TGR provide a service that enables Russian elites and designated individuals and entities to access Western economies that would otherwise be denied to them through sanctions or other financial restrictions.

In 2023, Elena Chirkinyan of the TGR Group was involved in concealing the transfer of funds out of Russia, most likely to support the activities of a Russian-language media organisation in the UK. These funds are alleged to have originated from Russia Today (RT), and the UK sanctions the entity that owns RT.

In March 2022, Zhdanova worked with members of TGR to move over £2 million into the UK for a Russian client, masking the source of the funds and bypassing ‘know your customer’ checks to purchase properties.

Siam Expert Trading Company Ltd., a Thailand-based company associated with Bradens that was sanctioned by OFAC today, facilitated the export of electronic components to Russia.

The networks also support Russian cyber criminals in laundering their illicit profits. In 2021, Zhdanova laundered over $2.3 million of suspected ransoms paid in crypto by victims to the Ryuk ransomware group. The NCA assesses that the group, members of which were sanctioned by the UK in 2023, was responsible for extorting at least £27m from 149 UK victims, including hospitals, schools, businesses and local authorities. However, their true impact is likely to be much higher.

Smart and TGR’s crypto addresses showed regular exposure to Garantex, the crypto exchange service sanctioned by the UK and US in 2022. Garantex has been linked to payments to companies for components of weapons used by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Operation Destabilise has been delivered in close collaboration with UK law enforcement and international partners, including OFAC, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the French Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire, and AGS in Ireland. The NCA also worked closely with authorities in the UAE to disrupt related money laundering activities.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said, “Illicit finance inflicts immense harm around the world, and this major global operation marks a significant step against economic crime.

“Led by the National Crime Agency working with Border Force, Op Destabilise has exposed Russian kleptocrats, drug gangs and cyber criminals – all of whom relied on the flow of dirty money.

“The UK and its allies will continue to work together to crack down on illicit finance and the criminality it enables.”

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