CNN
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UK and US authorities on Wednesday announced a major crackdown on a pair of billion-dollar money laundering rings that officials say has cleaned money for Russia’s elite, cybercriminals and drug-runners around the world.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned alleged senior members of one of the money-laundering rings, while the alleged leader of the other money-laundering ring is in custody in France, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
The three-year investigation from the UK’s National Crime Agency has revealed some of the clearest public evidence yet of how Russian-speaking groups allegedly act as a financial clearinghouse for ransomware criminals who extort victims for millions, Russian oligarchs looking to protect their money abroad and drug cartels who are pumping cocaine into Europe.
After Western governments pelted Russia with sanctions for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian elites needed a new place to stash their money. The two alleged money-laundering networks offered Russian elites a financial lifeline, UK investigators allege.
“As things became more difficult, and these elites wanted to continue to enjoy their lifestyles across the West, they turned very much (to these laundering networks),” Will Lyne, NCA’s head of cyber intelligence, told CNN.
Western law enforcement officials have now made 84 arrests in connection with the activity, according to the NCA, Britain’s main agency for fighting organized crime. And they’re hoping that recent arrests will yield new intelligence for the next law enforcement offensive against the powerful networks.
“For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between Russian elites, crypto-rich cybercriminals, and drugs gangs on the streets of the UK,” Rob Jones, NCA’s director general of operations, said in a statement.
The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced sanctions on alleged senior leaders of one of the laundering rings, which is known as TGR. Those sanctioned include a Ukrainian man named George Rossi, a Russian woman named Elena Chirkinyan, and a Latvian man named Andrejs Bradens, all who are alleged to be key players in the laundering network. CNN is attempting to reach them for comment.
Pullman Global Solutions LLC, a Wyoming based entity owned by Bradens, was also sanctioned, Treasury said.
The two money-laundering networks serve criminal enterprises that stretch from Dubai to Dublin, according to the NCA.
A typical money laundering cycle through the networks goes something like this, according to NCA: Cybercriminals in Russia need somewhere to send their cryptocurrency, so they swap it for cash with a drug gang in the UK. The drug gang then uses the crypto to buy drugs from a South American cartel and sell those drugs on the streets of the UK. The money launders take the cash from the drug sale and move it from the UK into the legitimate global banking system.
NCA officials allege that the Kremlin has directly benefited from some of the money laundering, which the officials say has been used to fund Russian espionage operations.
CNN has requested comment from the Russian embassy in London.
The alleged money-launderer that sources said is in custody in France is a Russian woman named Ekaterina Zhdanova. She is a long-running target of US law enforcement. The Treasury Department sanctioned her last year for her alleged elaborate money-laundering schemes. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller accused her of using cryptocurrency to launder hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of sanctioned Russian elites.
Attempts to reach Zhdanova for comment were unsuccessful. CNN has requested comment from French authorities.
The Treasury Department has accused Zhdanova of laundering over $2.3 million on behalf hackers who have used a type of ransomware called Ryuk. Ransomware attacks using Ryuk have been a menace to the US health care sector. One suspected Ryuk attack in 2020 forced hospitals at the University of Vermont Health Network to delay chemotherapy and mammogram appointments.
The investigation is just the latest example of how, to pursue transnational crime gangs, cops on multiple continents have had to use a combination of high-tech tools to trace crypto payments and old-school methods like stakeouts and undercover informants.
Multiple US law enforcement agencies, including the DEA and IRS, have used similar methods to ramp up their pursuit of Mexican drug cartels importing fentanyl into the US, CNN previously reported.