Millions of Scottish pounds seized in takedown of Russian money laundering network

More than a million Scottish bank notes have been seized during the takedown of a Russian laundering network.

Operation Destabilise was uncovered by the National Crime Agency, a multibillion-pound money-laundering campaign operating on the streets of the UK and in Russia, the Middle East and South America.

The global operation, which was based in Moscow, had been taking dirty money from crime gangs for a fee, and allowing them to exchange it for untraceable cryptocurrency, protecting drugs profits from detection.

The NCA and its partners confirmed that 84 people have so far been arrested in connection, including 71 in the UK.

During the investigation, more than £1m in Scottish notes were seized in Dover last year.

After a HMRC investigation, Ruslan Kaziuk, of Ukraine, was stopped while trying to leave the UK by Border Force officers on March 26, 2023.

Kaziuk declared just £500 in cash, but officers found silver-taped packages containing £2.1m during a search of the Ukrainian-registered Mercedes van he was driving.

They were concealed inside a door, inside the natural space behind a screwed-down chipboard, in three cardboard boxes, and in two Bags for Life. More than half of the cash was Scottish bank notes.

Kaziuk was charged with money laundering contrary to section 327 (1) and 334 of the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002), and pleaded guilty in September 2023 on the first day of the trial and was jailed for five years and eight months for his part.

Ruslan Kaziuk was jailed for five years and eight months. HMRC via Supplied

Investigators identified two Russian-speaking networks collaborating at the heart of the criminal enterprise, Smart and TGR.

Smart was headed up by Ekaterina Zhdanova, who worked closely with Khadzi-Murat Magomedov and Nikita Krasnov to facilitate money laundering.

TGR is run by George Rossi, his second-in-command Elena Chirkinyan, and Andrejs Bradens.

All six have now been sanctioned by OFAC in the US.

The NCA’s international partners also arrested a seventh individual, a global money laundering facilitator with strong links to one of the networks.

They have been linked to criminal and drug-dealing gangs throughout the world, with the National Crime Agency naming the Kinahan Cartel in Ireland as one of them.

More than half the cash discovered was Scottish bank notes. HMRC

Rob Jones, director general of operations at the National Crime Agency, said: “Operation Destabilise has exposed billion-dollar money laundering networks operating in a way previously unknown to international law enforcement or regulators.

“For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between Russian elites, crypto-rich cyber criminals, and drugs gangs on the streets of the UK. The thread that tied them together – the combined force of Smart and TGR – was invisible until now.

“The NCA and partners have disrupted this criminal service at every level. We have identified and acted against the Russians pulling the strings at the very top, removing the air of legitimacy that enabled them to weave illicit funds into our economy.

“We also took out the key coordinators 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.”