The National Crime Agency has exposed a billion-dollar money laundering network that bought a bank in Kyrgyzstan to help Russian actors evade sanctions and route payments connected to Moscow’s military ambitions.
The discovery forms part of Operation Destabilise, the NCA’s long-running effort to target cash-collection and crypto-conversion cells active across the UK.
According to the agency, the network operates in at least 28 towns and cities and specialises in converting criminal cash from drugs, firearms supply and organised immigration crime into cryptocurrency. These “cash to crypto” swaps sit at the centre of a global system that supports serious organised crime and, in several cases, Russian state-linked activity.
In the past 12 months, officers have arrested 45 suspected launderers and seized more than £5.1 million in cash. UK and international partners have seized a further $24 million and over EUR 2.6 million based on intelligence from the operation. Since the launch of Operation Destabilise, there have been 128 arrests and over £25 million seized in cash and crypto in the UK.
Sal Melki, the NCA’s Deputy Director for Economic Crime, said the operation had exposed the scale of the network’s reach. “Today we can reveal the sheer scale at which these networks operate and draw a line between crimes in our communities, sophisticated organised criminals and state sponsored activity. The networks disrupted through Destabilise operate at all levels of international money laundering, from collecting the street cash from drug deals, through to purchasing banks and enabling global sanctions breaches.”
The NCA has launched a targeted campaign aimed at the couriers who move criminal cash for the network, placing messages in locations these groups use. The warnings, in English and Russian, highlight the risk of long prison sentences for what is often a relatively small financial reward.
The network is built around two laundering groups, Smart and TGR. Smart is led by Ekaterina Zhdanova, alongside Khadzi-Murat Magomedov and Nikita Krasnov. TGR is headed by George Rossi, Elena Chirkinyan and Andrejs Bradens. All six were sanctioned by the US in late 2024, and Zhdanova is currently in pre-trial detention in France. Both networks have laundered funds for cybercriminals, drug traffickers and firearms smugglers, and have supported Russian clients seeking to bypass financial restrictions.
Altair Holding SA, linked to Rossi, was sanctioned in the UK in August after purchasing a 75 percent stake in Kyrgyzstan’s Keremet Bank on Christmas Day 2024. Investigators say the bank later facilitated cross-border payments for Promsvyazbank, a Russian state-owned institution that supports companies involved in Russia’s military industrial sector.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the operation had revealed how Russia used criminal networks to support its war in Ukraine. “This complex operation has exposed the corrupt tactics Russia used to avoid sanctions and fund its illegal war in Ukraine. We are working tirelessly to detect, disrupt, and prosecute anyone engaging in activity for a hostile foreign state. It will never be tolerated on our streets.”
The NCA and the Metropolitan Police highlight a growing trend of couriers being recruited to drive across the UK collecting bundles of cash for conversion to crypto. Several have already received multi-year sentences, including Valeriy Popovych and Vitaliy Lutsak, who laundered £6 million, and Giorgi Tabatadze, who handled £2.2 million.
Melki said the message to couriers was direct. “For a few hundred quid, there is a very good chance you could be going to prison for over 5 years. This campaign explains that they will be held accountable for the criminal cash they are moving. You can choose a different path, or face the consequences.”
Operation Destabilise continues to work with partners across the UK, Europe and the United States as the NCA seeks to further dismantle the networks’ reach.
I’d be amazed if NCA had spotted this by themselves.
It will almost certainly have been a tip off – probably someone banging on lots of doors to get anyone to respond.
It’s called all domain warfare it’s about hammering every system your enemy has.. law, order, social and political cohesion as well as economic attacks ( crime and corruption cost )… if it makes you money and sustains itself even better..
Sadly it looks like Donald trump’s administration has gone into full surrender money mode and the Russian sympathiser they has as an envoy to Russia has persuaded Donald Trump to throw Ukraine and so Europe under a bus.