BRITAIN’S National Crime Agency and a coalition of law enforcement agencies including the States of Jersey Police have brought down a multi-billion-dollar money-laundering network which had links to drug trafficking, espionage and ransomware attacks and had helped prominent Russian individuals in the UK avoid sanctions.
NCA investigators discovered that two Russian-speaking networks were involved in the global money-laundering scheme, which enabled UK street gangs to swap cash for crypto-currency and involved two networks, Smart and TGR, fronted by prominent Russian nationals, Ekaterina Zhdanova and George Rossi.
Dubbed Operation Destabilise, the investigation has so far led to 84 arrests and the seizure of over £20 million in cash.
It was revealed yesterday that the States police gathered key information during the 2021 arrest of Muhiddin Umurzokov, Anvarjon Eshonkulov and Batsukh Bataa that led the British authorities to companies being used to launder money. Umurzokov and Eshonkulov, both Uzbek nationals, and Bataa, a Mongolian, were jailed for a total of ten years in 2022.
On their phones and electronic devices, investigators found evidence of links to human trafficking and drugs, as well as to widespread money laundering – evidence which was subsequently used by the authorities in the UK as part of Operation Destablise.
NCA head of cyber intelligence Will Lyne said: “Alongside our policing partners we have disrupted these networks at every level. As well as exposing those pulling the strings at the very top, we have seized over £20 million in cash and cryptocurrency and taken out the key cash couriers supporting this illicit service in the UK.
“Jersey Police have been a key partner in that effort and their investigation disrupted criminals working with TGR to launder millions in illicit cash through UK businesses.”
The NCA said these networks used their global reach to launder money for transnational crime groups such as notorious family-run syndicate the Kinihans, which was sanctioned by the US in 2022. From late 2022 to 2023, the Smart network was also used to fund Russian espionage.
In a statement, NCA director general of operations Rob Jones said: “Operation Destabilise has exposed billion-dollar money laundering networks operating in a way previously unknown to international law enforcement or regulators.
“We took out the key co-ordinators that enabled the cash-based element of their operation in the UK, making it extremely difficult for them to operate here and sending a clear message that this is not a safe haven for money laundering.”
Mr Lune added: “As well as exposing those pulling the strings at the very top, we have seized over £20 million in cash and cryptocurrency and taken out the key cash couriers supporting this illicit service in the UK.”
