An investigation conducted as part of an international operation called Destabilise revealed extensive schemes that converted cash obtained through criminal means into cryptocurrency and linked the local drug trade to organized crime.
Previously, the NCA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury had highlighted networks such as TGR and Smart, which, according to them, were used by wealthy Russians to evade sanctions. London claimed that these structures were involved in exchanging cash for cryptocurrency on behalf of drug traffickers and criminal groups.
As a result of the global operation, law enforcement agencies from the UK, the USA, France, Spain, Ireland, and other countries detained 128 suspects. More than £25 million in cash and cryptocurrency was seized in the UK.
Sanctions against participants in these networks were imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury back in December, as they helped Russian elites conceal financial flows following the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the NCA, the TGR network was linked to the acquisition of a controlling stake in "Keremet Bank" — a bank that is under U.S. sanctions. In January of this year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reported that the sale of the bank's stake was aimed at creating a "center for circumventing sanctions" in the interests of Russian trade. "Keremet Bank" stated its intention to challenge the U.S. Treasury's decision.
The NCA also noted that control over the bank's shares was exercised by a company linked to Georgiy Rossi — a Ukrainian citizen who is under U.S. sanctions. Authorities in the UK and the USA consider him the leader of the TGR network. Reuters was unable to reach him.
Deputy Director of the NCA for Economic Crimes, Sal Malkey, emphasized: "Today we can demonstrate the scale of actions by these networks and establish a clear link between crime in our countries, highly organized crime, and activities sponsored by a certain state."
