UK's 'Operation Destabilise' Takes Down TGR Group, Russian Money Laundering Network

Dec 4, 2024, 04:07 PM

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has disrupted a multibillion-dollar Russian money laundering network known as TGR Group, which enabled oligarchs, spies, and European drug traffickers to evade sanctions using cryptocurrency. The operation, code-named 'Operation Destabilise,' involved law enforcement agencies from the UK, Ireland, the U.S., and France, leading to the arrest of 84 individuals and the seizure of over £14 million in cash and over $7 million in cryptocurrency. The network, run by a Russian socialite from London, Moscow, and Dubai, provided services to a wide range of illicit actors, including Russian elites, cybercriminals, and drug gangs such as the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. The NCA reported that couriers collected physical cash from criminals in one country in exchange for cryptocurrency, with Tether being the most favored. The network also helped fund Kremlin espionage schemes. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned five individuals and four entities tied to the network, as part of efforts to clamp down on sanctions evasion by Russian elites.