ChainCatcher message, according to the Financial Times, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) announced the successful dismantling of a large-scale cryptocurrency money laundering network spanning London, Moscow, and Dubai. The case primarily involves two companies: Smart and TGR, which acted as financial intermediaries, providing cross-border money transfer services in cryptocurrency for cash-rich criminals and sanctioned individuals worldwide.
Investigations show that the network provided services to criminal organizations, including the Kinahan drug trafficking group, ransomware gangs, and Russian espionage activities from late 2022 to summer 2023. Its operation involved couriers collecting cash in the UK and elsewhere, exchanging it for cryptocurrency primarily in USDT, which was then laundered through corporate networks and provided equivalent funds in other countries.
Ekaterina Zhdanova, a 38-year-old Moscow resident and owner of Smart, has been accused of transferring over $100 million to an unnamed sanctioned oligarch in the UAE, and is currently under U.S. sanctions and detained in France. The money laundering network collected cash at 55 different locations across England, Scotland, Wales, and the Channel Islands in just 4 months, serving at least 22 criminal groups.
NCA Operations Director Rob Jones stated that this is the agency's most significant anti-money laundering operation to date. Law enforcement has arrested 84 individuals and seized a total of £20 million in cash and cryptocurrency. The U.S. Treasury has imposed economic sanctions on 5 individuals and multiple companies involved. The operation received assistance from the U.S. FBI, DEA, as well as French and Irish police.