UK Disrupts $Billion Money Laundering Scheme, 84 Arrested

A UK-led operation has uncovered a multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme run out of London, Moscow, and Dubai, enabling Russian spies and European drug traffickers to evade sanctions using Tether, a cryptocurrency. The network, led by Ekaterina Zhdanova, has been disrupted with 84 arrests made, targeting a high-level Russian money laundering network that supports cyber-criminals profiting from ransomware attacks. The investigation, spearheaded by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), has revealed the extent to which this criminal enterprise operated, facilitating the laundering of proceeds from ransomware attacks, including one that led to the bankruptcy of Knights of Old, a 158-year-old UK delivery firm, after it refused to pay the ransom demanded by the Russia-linked Akira group in June 2023.