Kremlin-Backed Network Used SWIFT Access to Move Billions Despite Sanctions
- An investigation revealed that a Kremlin-backed financial network called A7 routed more than $6.9 billion through the international banking system using forged documents to bypass global sanctions.
- Founded in late 2024 by Ilan Shor and Promsvyazbank, A7 relied on over 100 front companies in the UAE, Hong Kong, and Kyrgyzstan to access SWIFT, allowing Russian businesses to move funds despite sanctions.
- When banks questioned transactions, A7 staff produced counterfeit invoices and removed Cyrillic characters to hide the "Russian trace." Standard Chartered, Citigroup, JPMorgan, and DBS processed payments including sensitive military-related purchases.
- The network recently expanded into Africa, opening offices in Lagos and Harare in September 2025. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Nigeria and Zimbabwe had "already joined" the A7 platform.
- Most funds flowed to Chinese bank accounts, while A7 also utilized Tether to facilitate transactions. Despite identifying these entities, the extent of operations in Nigeria and Zimbabwe remains unclear.
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Standard Chartered, Citigroup and other international banks managed billions of dollars from a Fintech company supported by Kremlin, which managed to penetrate the global financial system through a vast forgery of documents. Hundreds of thousands of files obtained by the Financial Times inside A7, a group set up as an alternative to the Western payment system, reveals how it used traditional money laundering methods to transfer over $6.9 billion…
How a Russian-backed network linked to 2 African countries moved $6.9 billion through banks using forged documents
A Russian-backed financial network with operations in Nigeria and Zimbabwe moved more than $6.9 billion through international banks using front companies and forged documents, according to a Financial Times investigation based on hundreds of thousands of leaked internal files.
Kremlin-Backed Network Used SWIFT Access to Move Billions Despite Sanctions
International banks including Standard Chartered, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, and others processed billions of dollars linked to A7, a Kremlin-backed financial group that allegedly used front companies and forged documents to move Russian funds through the global banking system despite sanctions, the Financial Times reported.
Journalists analysed hundreds of thousands of files received from the A7 Kryptoc Company created by the Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shore and the bank of the Russian military and industrial complex.
Sophisticated network of companies participated in money laundering to make Russian purchases abroad possible despite international sanctions.
The Financial Times (FT) has found that Standard Chartered, Citigroup and other international banks processed $6.9 billion in payments from the Kremlin-linked international payment system A7, which used forged documents and shell companies to bypass sanctions and access the global banking system. Some of the payments were related to military goods and purchases by Russian security agencies.
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