Money Launderers Bought Kyrgyzstan Bank to Evade Russia Sanctions, UK Says
The U.K.'s National Crime Agency said billion-dollar money laundering networks working out of the U.K. bought a bank in Kyrgyzstan to evade sanctions against Russia.
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The networks, TGR and Smart, have helped Russian clients illegally bypass financial restrictions to invest money in the U.K., the country said. It said TGR is led by George Rossi, who's also linked to the company Altair Holding SA. Altair has a "controlling stake" in Kyrgyzstan-based Keremet Bank, which the agency said was used to evade the Russia sanctions. The bank has been sanctioned by both the U.K. and the U.S. (see 2507210043 and 2501150055).
The network of launderers charged a fee to collect "dirty" cash earned from trade in drugs and firearms and convert it to "clean" cryptocurrency, which was used to circumvent sanctions, the U.K. said this month. "These ‘cash to crypto’ swaps are an integral part of a global criminal ecosystem that spans offending in our communities, sanctions evasions and the highest levels of organised crime, including providing money laundering services to the Russian state."
The agency said the effort to expose the network is part of Operation Destabilize, a U.K. initiative to tackle Russia-related money laundering. Under the operation, it has made 128 arrests and seized more than 25 million pounds (about $33 million) in cash and cryptocurrency in the U.K. alone.
The country said the operation has helped deter sanctions evasion, saying that members of money laundering networks "were believed to have reservations over operating in London and, in summer 2024, Russian-speaking laundering networks in the capital were charging significantly higher commission rates in recognition that it was difficult to work in the city."