Tag: Russian

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Article: Two Russian financiers who used Bruce Willis as the face of their collapsed bank face having their UK riches seized after racking up £730m debts amid claims they siphoned off customers’ savings

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Two Russian financiers who used Bruce Willis as the face of their collapsed bank face having their UK riches seized after racking up £730m debts amid claims they siphoned off customers’ savings

KATE DENNETT, 16 May 2020

Two Russian bankers, who lived in luxury in England, face having their assets seized by financial investigators after they were declared the second-biggest bankrupts in British history.

Financial investigators are searching to claim former Russia’s National Bank Trust (NBT) shareholders Ilya Yurov and Nikolay Fetisov’s assets. This comes after they were accused of siphoning off customers’ savings through a network of shell companies, The Times reported. Continue reading “Article: Two Russian financiers who used Bruce Willis as the face of their collapsed bank face having their UK riches seized after racking up £730m debts amid claims they siphoned off customers’ savings”

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Article: SEC Charges Russian National for Defrauding Older Investors of Over $26 Million in Phony Certificates of Deposit Scam

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SEC Charges Russian National for Defrauding Older Investors of Over $26 Million in Phony Certificates of Deposit Scam

US SEC, 13 March 2020

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Denis Georgiyevich Sotnikov and entities he controlled for allegedly participating in a fraudulent scheme to lure U.S. investors into buying fictitious Certificates of Deposit (CDs) promoted through internet advertising and “spoofed” websites that mimic the actual sites of legitimate financial institutions.

According to the SEC’s complaint, the scheme involved purchasing internet ads that targeted investors who were searching for CDs with high rates. The ads allegedly included links to phony websites, which falsely claimed that the firms offering the CDs were members of FINRA and the FDIC, and that deposits were FDIC-insured. When investors called the phone number on the websites, an “account executive” impersonating a real registered representative directed investors to wire funds to so-called “clearing” partners. These alleged clearing partners were entities used by Sotnikov to launder and misappropriate investor funds. Since November 2014, the alleged scheme involved spoofing the websites of at least 24 actual financial firms or using at least 8 fictitious entities, resulting in over $26 million in known investor losses – with many of those losses from older investors who used their retirement savings. Continue reading “Article: SEC Charges Russian National for Defrauding Older Investors of Over $26 Million in Phony Certificates of Deposit Scam”

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Article: US charges Russian billionaire Tinkov with tax fraud

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US charges Russian billionaire Tinkov with tax fraud

Pedro Gonçalves, 09 March 2020

Tinkov stands accused of concealing $1bn in assets and income from the US tax authorities at the time when he renounced his US citizenship in 2013, which required him to report his assets following a stock market flotation in London, the Department of Justice said. Continue reading “Article: US charges Russian billionaire Tinkov with tax fraud”

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Article: Founder of Russian bank charged with tax fraud

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Founder of Russian bank charged with tax fraud

IRS, 05 March 2020

The founder of a Russian bank was arrested last week in London in connection with an indictment charging him with filing false tax returns, announced Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter. The Sept. 26, 2019, indictment was unsealed today Continue reading “Article: Founder of Russian bank charged with tax fraud”

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Article: Beyond Deutsche: U.S. Banks Also Implicated in Dubious Partnerships Abroad

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Beyond Deutsche: U.S. Banks Also Implicated in Dubious Partnerships Abroad

CRISTINA MAZA, 24 February 2020

Evgeny, a retiree from the Russian city of Vladimir, always believed that the U.S. financial system had integrity. In particular Citibank, to him, was no Deutsche Bank, a bank known for getting in bed with dubious investors. And that belief, Evgeny says, may have led to his financial ruin.

The 63-year-old worked for years as a manager in the construction industry, and eventually he became a member of Russia’s minuscule middle class. He planned to retire in 2018 with roughly $100,000 in savings, the product of a lifetime of toil. For almost a decade he deposited his savings in one of Russia’s largest and most reputable financial institutions: Promsvyazbank. Evgeny was one of the bank’s top-tier clients, and he believed that he was on a path to financial stability for himself and his family. Continue reading “Article: Beyond Deutsche: U.S. Banks Also Implicated in Dubious Partnerships Abroad”

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Article: Murder, misinformation and money-laundering: Weapons in the arsenal of the Russian state

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Murder, misinformation and money-laundering: Weapons in the arsenal of the Russian state

Dominic Kavakeb, 16 December 2019

Just hours before the British public was set to go to the polls to elect a new Government, Global Witness was hosting an important and timely discussion on the global influence of Putin’s Russia in the UK.

From Russian troll factories to the spread of misinformation, accusations of Russian interference in global democratic processes have increasingly come to the fore. At the same time flows of Russian money, obscured by anonymous company ownership, have been at the centre of countless money laundering scandals. And from Alexander Litvinenko to Sergei Skripal assassination attempts on Russian nationals in the UK have regularly hit the headlines. Continue reading “Article: Murder, misinformation and money-laundering: Weapons in the arsenal of the Russian state”

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Article: From Russia, with Malware: US Charges Hacking Group Evil Corp. In $100M Bank Fraud

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From Russia, with Malware: US Charges Hacking Group Evil Corp. In $100M Bank Fraud

PYMNTS, 05 December 2019

Call it Russian interference of a different sort that netted $100 million from banks and financial institutions (FIs) in more than 40 countries.

What would you expect from an outfit named Evil Corp.? Sometimes, it seems, there is truth in advertising.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a multicount indictment Thursday (Dec. 5) against two Russian citizens, Igor Turashev and Maksim V. Yakubets. They are connected with a Russian hacking group known as Evil Corp., which has been known to release malware. The duo allegedly — and with the help of more than a dozen others — worked to deploy malware known as Dridex (aka Cridex and Bugat) and for committing wire and bank fraud. Continue reading “Article: From Russia, with Malware: US Charges Hacking Group Evil Corp. In $100M Bank Fraud”

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Article: TECH ‘Evil Corp’: Feds charge Russians in massive $100 million bank hacking scheme

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TECH ‘Evil Corp’: Feds charge Russians in massive $100 million bank hacking scheme

Kate Fazzini, 05 December 2019

The U.S. Justice and Treasury departments took action Thursday against a Russian hacking group known as “Evil Corp.,” which stole “at least” $100 million from banks using malicious software that swiped banking credentials, according to a joint press release.

“Evil Corp.,” a name reminiscent of the nickname for the key malevolent corporation in the popular television drama “Mr. Robot,” is “run by a group of individuals based in Moscow, Russia, who have years of experience and well-developed, trusted relationships with each other,” according to a Treasury Department press release. Continue reading “Article: TECH ‘Evil Corp’: Feds charge Russians in massive $100 million bank hacking scheme”

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Article: Russian hacker pleads guilty in ‘massive’ stock market cyberattack

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Russian hacker pleads guilty in ‘massive’ stock market cyberattack

Jeff Elder, 28 September 2019

This week a Russian hacker pleaded guilty in what the U.S. Department of Justice called “a massive computer hacking campaign targeting U.S. financial institutions, brokerage firms, financial news publishers, and other companies.”

The Southern District of New York case includes dramatic events in which Andrei Tyurin made “an effort to artificially inflate the price of certain stocks” and then “marketed the stocks in a deceptive and misleading manner” to customers whose contact information he stole from companies including an unnamed major financial news agency. Continue reading “Article: Russian hacker pleads guilty in ‘massive’ stock market cyberattack”

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Article: Russian national confesses to biggest bank hack in US history

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Russian national confesses to biggest bank hack in US history

DAN GOODIN, 24 September 2019

A Russian national has admitted to carrying out the largest-known computer hack on a US bank. His 2014 breach of JPMorgan Chase generated hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit revenue and stole the data of more than 80 million JPMorgan clients.

Andrei Tyurin, 35, whose last name is also spelled Tiurin, also pleaded guilty to hacks against other US financial institutions, brokerage firms, and other companies. In all, he pleaded guilty in federal court to computer intrusion, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal online gambling as part of a securities-fraud scheme carried out by co-conspirators. Continue reading “Article: Russian national confesses to biggest bank hack in US history”

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Article: Massive Russian Financial Flows Through Moldova Show Small Jurisdictions Matter

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Massive Russian Financial Flows Through Moldova Show Small Jurisdictions Matter

Joshua Kirschenbaum, 30 July 2019

In 2014 the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) revealed a staggering Russian money-laundering operation perpetrated through Moldindconbank in Moldova, alternatively dubbed the Russian Laundromat1 or the Global Laundromat.2 Financial facilitators allegedly moved $20 billion from Russian banks to Moldindconbank over five years, where they “cleaned” the money using Moldovan court orders backing fraudulent claims that borrowers had defaulted on promissory notes. They then moved the proceeds to banks in Latvia and around the world. According to the OCCRP, Moldindconbank received $20 billion in potentially illicit inflows—a truly colossal sum for one small institution in one small country. Continue reading “Article: Massive Russian Financial Flows Through Moldova Show Small Jurisdictions Matter”

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Article: Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat

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Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat

John O’Donnell, 13 July 2019

Europe’s Baltic states are at risk from further Russian money laundering, a top European police official said after several big banks were hit by scandals centered on the region.

Pedro Felicio, who is responsible for fighting money laundering at European police agency Europol, told Reuters that “huge inflows of criminal money” are mainly coming into Europe from Russia and China.

Russian money is alleged to be at the heart of multi-billion dollar laundering rackets that engulfed Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest lender and Sweden’s Swedbank. Continue reading “Article: Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat”

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Article: THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS

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THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS

Nicholas Larsen, International Banker, 20 May 2019

On April 5, Lars Idermark resigned from his position as the chairman of Swedbank, headquartered in Sweden. Idermark stepped down from his position only a week after the chief executive officer, and previously the supervisor of Swedbank operations in the Baltic states, Birgitte Bonnesen, was fired. The moves come amid sweeping allegations that Sweden’s oldest bank was involved in laundering billions of dollars’ worth of Russian money. In particular, the lender’s Baltic units have been named as being complicit in handling illegal funds from Russia as well as other smaller former Soviet countries. Continue reading “Article: THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS”

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Article: Deutsche Bank faces action over $20bn Russian money-laundering scheme

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Deutsche Bank faces action over $20bn Russian money-laundering scheme

Luke Harding, 17 April 2019

Germany’s troubled Deutsche Bank faces fines, legal action and the possible prosecution of “senior management” because of its role in a $20bn Russian money-laundering scheme, a confidential internal report seen by the Guardian says.

The bank admits there is a high risk that regulators in the US and UK will take “significant disciplinary action” against it. Deutsche concedes that the scandal has hurt its “global brand” – and is likely to cause “client attrition”, loss of investor confidence and a decline in its market value.

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Article: Factbox: European banks hit by Russian money laundering scandal

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Factbox: European banks hit by Russian money laundering scandal

Reuters Staff, 08 March 2019

Several European banks are facing allegations of being involved in a Baltic money laundering scandal and failing to prevent tainted Russian money from flowing through their branches across the world. Continue reading “Article: Factbox: European banks hit by Russian money laundering scandal”

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