British banks handled vast sums of laundered Russian money
Britain’s high street
banks processed nearly $740m from a vast money-laundering operation run by
Russian criminals with links to the Russian government and the KGB, the
Guardian can reveal.
HSBC, the Royal Bank
of Scotland, Lloyds, Barclays and Coutts are among 17 banks based in the UK, or
with branches here, that are facing questions over what they knew about the
international scheme and why they did not turn away suspicious money transfers.
Documents seen by the Guardian show that at least $20bn appears to have been
moved out of Russia during
a four-year period between 2010 and 2014. The true figure could be $80bn,
detectives believe. One senior figure involved in the inquiry said the money
from Russia was “obviously either stolen or with criminal origin”.
Investigators are
still trying to identify some of the wealthy and politically influential
Russians behind the operation, known as “the Global Laundromat”. They estimate
a group of about 500 people were involved. These include oligarchs, Moscow
bankers, and figures working for or connected to the FSB, the successor spy
agency to the KGB. Igor Putin, the cousin of Russia’s president, Vladimir, sat
on the board of a Moscow bank which held accounts involved in the fraud.
British-registered
companies played a prominent role in this extensive money-laundering network.
The real owners of most of the firms used in the scheme remain secret, however,
because of the anonymity provided by controversial offshore laws.
The Global Laundromat
banking records were obtained by the Organized
Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Novaya Gazeta from sources who
wish to remain anonymous. OCCRP shared the data with the Guardian and media
partners in 32 countries. The documents include details of about 70,000 banking
transactions, including 1,920 that went through UK banks and 373 via US banks…
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