UK & U.S. Join Forces to Tackle Money Laundering Networks Linked to Russian Oligarchs and Drug Cartels

On December 4, 2024, British authorities dismantled two large money laundering networks with links to Russian oligarchs – organized crime groups, cybercriminals, and drug cartels.

Operation Destabilize involved three years of investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency. Cash and cryptocurrency totaling £20 million were confiscated along with the arrest of 84 individuals.

These operations are aimed at criminal networks that wash billions of dollars through complex structures of shell companies and transactions in cryptocurrency.

The NCA announced this action at the same time that the US Treasury Department put sanctions on key players within those networks. It analyzed the growing concern about using financial systems to launder illegal proceeds and finance criminal activity.

The US Treasury Department sanctioned key members in one of the networks, while the leader of the second network is currently detained in France, stated media sources.

“Pullman Global Solutions LLC, a Wyoming based entity owned by Bradens, was also sanctioned”

Treasury

Russian elites began to engage in money laundering in 2022 to protect their assets due to sanctions from Western countries, stemming from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russian cybercriminals are trading cryptocurrency for cash with UK-based drug gangs. Those gangs use cryptocurrency to purchase drugs from South American cartels.

The laundered funds were then fed into the world’s financial system. A portion of the laundered funds was used to fund Russian intelligence operations.

According to Media sources, an important figure in this structure “Ekaterina Zhdanova” – a citizen of the Russian Federation – is currently detained in France.

Zhdanova, whom the US Treasury Department has already sanctioned, is charged with laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in favor of Russian elites sanctioned by the United States, including through cryptocurrencies.

It is against the threat posed by transnational organized crime to interrupt this network and the importance of international cooperation in combating financial crime.

Read Also:

• The US Charges Chinese “Underground Bankers” Of Laundering $50 Million In Drug Cartel Proceeds

• OFAC Fines US citizen $1.1 Million For Violating Iran Sanctions

As per NCA, the two money-laundering networks serve criminal enterprises that stretch from Dubai to Dublin.

Both countries understand the importance of cooperation in combating these criminal networks & holding them accountable.