Troika laundromat or ŪkioLeaks[1] is a money laundering scheme organized by Russia's former largest investment bank – Troika Dialog. This scheme allowed the flow of some $4.8 billion of funds from Russian companies and figures into Europe and the US between 2003 and early 2013. It was discovered by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) with 21 media partners from Europe, North America, and South Korea. in 2019.[2][3][4][5]

Investigation

The scheme was discovered in a large set of transactions and other documents collected by OCCRP[2] and 20 media partners[6] including 15min.lt.[2] The findings draw on a massive – possibly the largest ever – leak of bank records, emails and contracts. Investigative journalists sifted through 1.3 million bank transactions between 233,000 companies and individuals, with a total value over US$470 billion, dated between 2006 and 2012.[6]

Erich Rebasso

Between December 2006 and February 2008, Erich Rebasso, an Austrian lawyer used 150 individual transactions to send almost US$96 million to laundromat accounts at Ukio Bankas, a Lithuanian bank.[7]

In 2008, Rebasso sent a letter to the main Vienna headquarters of the Federal Criminal Police, the country's top law enforcement agency. In his five-page letter he confess that he has been used for criminal purposes and is willing to submit the matter to the required criminal review.[7]

Rebasso's confessional letter had little effect. While police looked into the matter, it was two years later when they informed him that they had stopped the proceedings because they believed any potential crime had happened outside their jurisdiction and been committed by foreigners.[7]

In 2012, Rebasso was ambushed and killed by 2 men.[7][8]

Sergei Magnitsky

More than $130 million was transferred through the Troika Laundromat by companies involved in the fraud that Magnitsky uncovered.[6][9]

Sergei Magnitsky was detained in 2009 and passed away in custody after informing the authorities of the crime.[6][9]

Scheme

A Russian investment bank named Troika Dialog was established in the 1990s. In 2012, it was acquired by state-owned Sberbank. At least 75 companies were registered in tax haven British Virgin Islands by Troika Dialog. They were additionally incorporated under shell corporations in different tax heavens.[6][10]

In total, over $4.8 billion[11] was paid into Troika network, however the value of transactions between the companies managed by Troika Dialog was an estimated $8.8bn, suggesting money was spun around for a number of cycles before exiting.[12]

In order to protect themselves, the organizers of this system used the identities of poor people[2] such as Armenian workers in Moscow[6] as unwitting signatories in the secretive offshore companies that ran the system.[2] Those shell companies did operations with fake paperwork.[6]

The laundromat let oligarchs and politicians to secretly buy from state-owned companies, to buy real-estates both in Russia and abroad, to buy yachts, to hire music superstars for private parties etc.[2]

Connection with European banks

At least 35 of total shell corporations had accounts in Lithuanian defunct bank – Ukio Bankas.[6][13][11]

Austria's Raiffeisen and Germany's Commerzbank have neglected AML obligations during handling the Troika's money.[6][11][14]

Ruben Vardanyan

Vardanyan and Putin at the ceremony for beginning the construction of the Moscow School of Management in 2006

Ruben Vardanyan was the head of Troika Dialog at the time. He's a former adviser to Vladimir Putin and has close ties to him.[15] Vardanyan has been listed by Forbes magazine as one of the richest persons in Russia.[3] He supposedly provided a loan to a business that was a part of the plan, according to one document that bears his signature, but the OCCRP claims there is no "definitive evidence" that he was aware of the fraud.[16]

According to Vardanyan, who was mentioned by the OCCRP, his bank didn't do anything improper and ran similarly to other investment banks at the time. However, he said that he "couldn't possibly know" about every transaction that his bank carried out on behalf of customers.[16] However, the data, which is being scrutinized by government prosecutors in Lithuania, raises concerns about the bank's transfers being only lightly inspected. Data shows that shell company named Quantus sent nearly $500,000 to pay Vardanyan's credit card bills. Other than that, his wife and mother-in-law received 935,000 euros and 900,000 euros respectively.[15]

Origins of money

OCCRP notes that at least money was of illegal origin.

Sheremetyevo International Airport – the busiest airport in Moscow purchased fuel from a broad network of middlemen between 2003 and 2008, which greatly increased the price. Court records show that just in 2006 and 2007, phantom corporations made at least $200 million in pointless markups. The scam cost the Russian government approximately 1 billion rubles ($40 million) in missing tax income. The cost of fuel increased, which also increased the cost of airline tickets for the general people.[7][17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Černiauskas, Šarūnas (2019-03-04). "Ūkio bankas – milijardinės pinigų plovimo sistemos centre". 15min.lt/verslas (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Project, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting. "The Troika Laundromat". OCCRP. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  3. 1 2 Fitzgibbon, Will (2019-03-04). "Troika Laundromat reveals Russian bank's $8.8b offshore scheme - ICIJ". Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  4. ↑ Burroughs, Callum. "'Troika Laundromat' Russia money-laundering scandal clobbers more banks as allegations deepen". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  5. ↑ "'Troika Laundromat' Russia money laundering scandal clobbers more banks as allegations deepen". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Troika Laundromat signals a different kind of financial crisis - News". Transparency.org. 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Zotter, Christoph; Nikbakhsh, Michael; Radu, Paul (2019-03-05). "Death in Vienna". OCCRP. Archived from the original on 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  8. ↑ "Neue Details um getöteten Wiener Anwalt Erich Rebasso bekannt". vienna.at. 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  9. 1 2 Radu, Paul. "Vast Offshore Network Moved Billions With Help From Major Russian Bank". OCCRP. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  10. ↑ Baumgaertel, Christian (2019-03-07). "What We Know About the Troika Laundromat. And What We Don't". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  11. 1 2 3 Baumgaertel, Christian (2019-03-07). "What we know about the Troika Laundromat. And what we don't". DailyRepublic.com. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  12. ↑ Garside, Juliette (2019-03-04). "Q&A: what is the 'Troika Laundromat' and how did it work?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  13. ↑ Sophie, Perryer (2019-07-01). "Troika Laundromat: inside Europe's latest money laundering scandal". European CEO. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  14. ↑ O'Connor, Coilin (2019-03-05). "The Troika Laundromat: Five Quick Takeaways". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  15. 1 2 Garside, Juliette; Barr, Caelainn (2019-03-04). "Banking leak exposes Russian network with link to Prince Charles". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  16. 1 2 Crosby, Alan (2019-03-05). "'Troika Laundromat' Accusations Cast Millionaire Vardanyan In New Light". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
  17. ↑ "Report: Huge Money-Laundering Scheme By Russia's Largest Investment Bank". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 2019-03-04. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
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