84 arrested in UK-led crypto laundering investigation involving Russian oligarchs, spies
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on Dec. 4 that it had dismantled a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme that has enabled criminal networks, including Russian spies and oligarchs, to evade sanctions using cryptocurrency.
The criminal operations, described by investigators as a “complex scheme,” spanned over 30 countries. Criminal networks laundered proceeds from illegal activities to “collect funds in one country and make the equivalent value available in another, often by swapping cryptocurrency for cash,” according to the NCA.
Investigators allege that two companies, Smart Group and TGR Group, served as a financial laundering hubs to various transnational criminal organizations, including…
