Home / Crime and Justice / Wirecard Fugitive Linked to £25M Spy Laundering Ring
Wirecard Fugitive Linked to £25M Spy Laundering Ring
21 Nov
Summary
- Wirecard fugitive Marsalek linked to Bulgarian spies.
- Two networks used crypto to move money for criminals and sanctioned Russians.
- UK's Operation Destabilise recovered £25 million in cash and crypto.
Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek has been connected to a sprawling money laundering operation in the UK, involving a ring of Bulgarian spies. This scheme, utilizing cryptocurrency, allegedly moved billions of dollars, linking street-level drug dealers to sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
Two primary money laundering networks, known as Smart and TGR, were reportedly employed by Russian intelligence services in an attempt to fund Marsalek's spies. These networks collected physical cash from illicit activities like drug trafficking and organized immigration crime, exchanging it for cryptocurrency. This process secretly funneled money to criminals and sanctioned individuals globally.
The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), through its Operation Destabilise, has made significant progress, with 128 arrests and over £25 million in cash and cryptocurrency seized. This investigation underscores Russia's collaboration with organized crime to circumvent Western sanctions following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
