Posing as a glamorous Russian socialite and a legitimate businesswoman, international investigators have admitted Ekaterina Zhdanova is ‘not your typical’ crypto laundering kingpin.
But Zhdanova’s double life, seemingly thriving as an entrepreneur opening hotels and businesses across Moscow while secretly running an illicit multi-billion-pound Russian network, was today exposed as British police dismantled her criminal enterprise.
In July 2016, Zhdanova was establishing herself as a socialite whose successful business ventures led to her being splashed across the front cover of a Russian fashion and culture magazine.
Partying with Russia’s rich and famous, Zhdanova had entered an exclusive social circle which was a far cry from her humble upbringing in a Siberian town.
But her web of lies soon appeared to unravel after she started taking advantage of her fame by posting on social media about buying ‘huge volumes’ of cryptocurrency.
In 2023, her luxurious lifestyle, posing with expensive watches and partying with pop stars, came crashing down as the US government sanctioned her for her alleged role in a crypto laundering operation used by Russian oligarchs and ransomware gangs.
But today, Zhdanova, who is custody in France, was revealed as one of the two kingpins of a multibillion-pound Russian money laundering network which helped launder criminal cash obtained by Russian hackers through Britain via drug gangs.
The true scale of the international sting was revealed by the arrest of courier Fawad Saiedi, who was pulled over by Met Police officers while driving southbound on the M1 towards London in November 2021.
Playing a key role in the conspiracy was Ekaterina Zhdanova, who was born in Siberia and built a vast network of contacts in Moscow
In July 2016, Zhdanova was establishing herself as a socialite whose successful business ventures led to her being splashed across the front cover of a Russian fashion and culture magazine
Smart was run by Zhdanova, who built a vast network of contacts in Moscow during a career in financial services
Ms Zhdanova ran Smart, which operated alongside another organisation known as TGR
Detectives found that Saiedi was carrying more than £250,000 in cash, while a further £24,500 was seized at his home along with a cash counting machine, The Telegraph reports.
Saiedi, who was filmed being questioned by officers in the backseat of a car while being detained, is also believed to have transferred £15,667,720 as part of his role as a courier and collector.
The courier, who was sentenced to four years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing and transferring criminal property in May 2022, was acting under the directions of Zhdanova and Nikita Krasnov.
The system was used by Russian-speaking hackers with millions in cryptocurrency that they needed to turn into cash and assets, as well as street gangs who had physical money they needed to launder.
Irish cartel the Kinahans are also accused of using the system, run by two networks called Smart and TGR, to get cryptocurrency in return for cash – while oligarchs placed under sanctions used it to disguise their cash in order to invest in British property.
Even the Russian state used the secretive network to get money to spies based in other countries, and it is also claimed it was used to move funds from the state-controlled TV network RT to journalists based in the UK.
The media group, formerly known as Russia Today, was sanctioned by the UK in 2022 and has more recently been linked to a malign influence campaign in the US.
Smart was run by Zhdanova, who built a vast network of contacts in Moscow during a career in financial services.
The glamorous businesswoman was sanctioned by the US last year and is currently in custody in France
The whereabouts of the boss of TGR, Russian businessman Georgy Rossi (right, with Elena Chirkinyan), are currently unknown
The whereabouts of the boss of TGR, Russian businessman Georgy Rossi, are currently unknown.
Both Zhdanova and Rossi were described as ‘interesting characters in their own right’ by Sal Melki, the head of illicit finance at the NCA, which led the sting dubbed “Operation Destabilise”.
Mr Melki admitted Zhdanova was ‘not your typical’ organised crime boss but someone who ‘presents herself as a legitimate business person’.
Both Zhdanova and Rossi are thought to have made millions from laundering money around the world, taking a commission of roughly three per cent for transactions totalling billions.
International law enforcement agencies have now made 84 arrests, including more than 70 in the UK, with over £20million seized in Britain.
National Crime Agency director general of operations Rob Jones said the investigation, named Operation Destabilise, exposed billion-dollar laundering networks operating in a way previously unknown to international law enforcement.
‘For the first time, we have been able to map out a link between Russian elites, crypto-rich cyber criminals, and drugs gangs on the streets of the UK,’ he said.
‘The thread that tied them together – the combined force of Smart and TGR – was invisible until now.
‘The NCA and partners have disrupted this criminal service at every level.
‘We have identified and acted against the Russians pulling the strings at the very top, removing the air of legitimacy that enabled them to weave illicit funds into our economy.’
Zhdanova and Rossi were at the top of an international system where criminals with dirty money or cryptocurrency could exchange it for funds of the equivalent value, meaning they could hide the fact the money had come from crime.
The scheme was first discovered with the arrest of Fawad Saiedi in London in November 2021, who was found with more than £250,000 in cash on the M1
A picture of Ms Zhdanova, who had a career in financial services
Zhdanova – pictured – is currently in custody in France
A man counting money being processed by the money laundering network
The complex scheme involved collecting funds in one country and making the equivalent value available in another, often by swapping cryptocurrency for cash
The money laundering system operated in 30 countries and was used by gangs including notorious Irish cartel the Kinahans as well as money-runners across Britain, the NCA said
The NCA released a video explaining how cryptocurrency was swapped for dirty money gathered by UK street gangs
Smart’s customers are alleged to have included a Russian ransomware group that was responsible for attempting to extort at least £27 million from 149 UK victims including hospitals, schools, businesses and local authorities.
The system meant drug dealers in the UK swapped dirty money for cryptocurrency that they could use to buy drugs from South American cartels, while Russian cybercriminals were able to buy assets such as properties abroad.
The scheme was first discovered with the arrest of Fawad Saiedi in London in November 2021, who was found with more than £250,000 in cash.
He was later jailed for possessing and transferring criminal property, and was thought to have been involved in laundering more than £15 million, under the instructions of Zhdanova and her associate Nikita Krasnov.
Other parts of the network that were exposed included cash couriers in the UK run by two men called Semen Kuksov and Andrii Dzektsa, who between July 2022 and September 2023 oversaw the laundering of £12.3 million in 74 days.
One courier linked to Kuksov’s network, Igor Logvinov, was arrested by An Garda Siochana in Ireland and later jailed for three years.
Criminal gangs turned cash into virtual currency which they could then use to reinvest in their illicit business
A photo of piles of cash being moved by the gang that was provided by the NCA
Money was hidden inside boxes of washing powder
The boxes after being opened by officers
Wodges of numbered banknotes laid out on the ground
In Jersey in October 2021, an investigation found that Muhiddin Umurzokov, Anvarjon Eshonkulov and Batsukh Bataa had tried to launder £60,000 on the island.
They were found to be housing illegal migrants in sub-let homes that were paid for with the proceeds of drug dealing and prostitution, and were all jailed.
Two other cases saw money smugglers stopped at the border in Kent – Ukrainian nationals Taras Hirnyak and Andrii Trachuk who were found with £1 million in cash in washing powder boxes in May last year at the Channel Tunnel, and Ruslan Kaziuk who was stopped at Dover in March 2023 with taped up packages of cash.
Another courier, Andrejs Jasins, was stopped at Frankley Services on the southbound M5 near Birmingham in March 2023 and was found with £400,000 hidden under the passenger seat of his van.
The Latvian national had only flown into the UK the day before he was arrested, and was later jailed for two years.
Semen Kuksov (left) and Andrii Dzetska (right) was one of the network’s cash couriers in the UK
A pile of banknotes wrapped up inside a bag for life
Several watches were also seized from the gang
The NCA worked with law enforcement in the US, Ireland, Jersey and France to bring down the network, which spanned 30 countries.
A series of sanctions, announced by US authorities today, have been put in against individuals accused of running the network.
Zhdanova’s associates Khadzi-Murat Dalgatovich Magomedov and Nikita Vladimirovich Krasnov were sanctioned by the United States on Wednesday.
Rossi, Chirkinyan, and another leading figure in TGR, Andrejs Bradens also known as Andrejs Carenoks, were also sanctioned by the US, along with associated businesses including TGR Partners, TGR DWC LLC and TGR Corporate Concierge Ltd.
