UK Cracks Down on Russian Cryptocurrency Laundering Network

The NCA, with the aid of international partners, has dismantled extensive Russian money laundering networks using cryptocurrencies, linked to drug and arms trafficking, ransomware, and espionage activities.

Operation Destabilise: NCA disrupts $ multi-billion Russian money laundering networks with links to, drugs, ransomware and espionage, resulting in 84 arrests.

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— National Crime Agency (NCA) (@NCA_UK) December 4, 2024

At the heart of the scheme are two Russian companies, Smart Group and TGR Group. Authorities allege they assisted criminal groups in exchanging cryptocurrency for cash and transferring funds abroad to more than 30 countries.

Their clientele included not only major criminal syndicates like Kinahan but also Russian oligarchs and elite members seeking to evade sanctions. From late 2022 to summer 2023, the Smart network was reportedly used to finance espionage operations for Russia.

Law enforcement arrested 84 individuals, many of whom are already serving prison sentences, and seized over £20 million ($25.4 million) in cash and cryptocurrencies.

Names

The OFAC imposed sanctions on five individuals and four organizations associated with Smart and TGR: TGR Partners, TGR Corporate Concierge LTD, TGR DWC-LLC, and Siam Expert. The latter facilitated the export of electronic components to Russia.

Smart is led by Ekaterina Zhdanova, who was added to the sanctions list in November 2023 and closely collaborated with Khadji-Murat Magomedov and Nikita Krasnov.

TGR is headed by George Rossi, his deputy Elena Chirkinyan, and Andrejs Bradens, also known as Andrejs Karenoks.

According to the NCA, many money laundering operations were conducted through Zhdanova and Magomedov. Krasnov worked with courier networks in the UK, collecting cash for further exchange. At least 22 local criminal groups used these services.

One London courier, Fawad Saidi, helped launder over £15 million ($19.1 million). He was sentenced to four years and four months in prison.

Another courier network for illegal operations across Europe was led by Semyon Kuksov and Andrey Dzhekta, coordinated by Krasnov. Authorities report that over £12 million ($15.2 million) passed through them in two months.

Kuksov was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison, Dzhekta to five years. Their associated courier, Igor Logvinov, was arrested in Ireland and sentenced to three years.

Authorities claim Elena Chirkinyan of TGR Group in 2023 assisted in concealing a purported transfer from Russia Today to a Russian-language parent media organization in the UK under sanctions.

According to case materials, in March 2022, Zhdanova helped transfer over £2 million ($2.54 million) to the UK for a Russian client, who used it for an anonymous real estate purchase.

Zhdanova is also linked to the Ryuk ransomware group and transactions exceeding $2.3 million in their favor.

Cryptocurrency addresses of Smart and TGR regularly transacted with the Garantex exchange, sanctioned by the UK and US since 2022.

Back in March, Transparency International Russia reported that exchangers from “Moscow-City” were helping to cash out USDT in the UK.

Chainalysis analysts in a September 2024 report assert that the latest crypto laws adopted in Russia are aimed at evading sanctions.