As a result of a new data leak, a large-scale system has been revealed through which billions of euros from Russia are laundered in the West, writes the German Süddeutsche. The system allowed corrupt politicians, criminals and entrepreneurs to launder money, evade taxes and hide their fortunes. Among the beneficiaries is one good friend of President Putin, the newspaper claims.
Through a sophisticated money laundering system, billions of euros have been withdrawn from Russia to the West for several years. Almost 190 million euros in the period from 2005 to 2014 alone settled in German accounts. The system allowed corrupt politicians, criminals and entrepreneurs to launder money, evade taxes and hide their fortunes. Some of the money appears to have come from large fraudulent schemes in modern Russian history. About $ 80 million is allegedly the profit of a fraudulent scheme, which later under mysterious circumstances was opened by the deceased lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Companies involved in the multi-million dollar fraudulent incident at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport also paid money to the chain's companies. This is evidenced by bank documents,which were at the disposal of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Project (OCCRP) and the Lithuanian news portal 15min.lt. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reviewed the documents with 20 other media outlets, including the British Guardian newspaper, the Swiss Tages-Anzeiger and the Austrian magazine Profil, and published the results. …
In other words, the system worked like a washing machine: money of both illegal and legal origin was brought online from about 70 fly-by-night companies, which were apparently run by the Troika Dialog investment bank in Moscow. Money was transferred in both directions, including between different accounts of the same company. The purpose of the translation was often invented. There were examples such as "vegetables and fruits", "building materials" or "frozen herring". In many cases, the goods were supposedly not traded at all. This is a common type of money laundering. “The illegal payment is disguised as if it was related to the shipment of goods,” explains forensic expert Louise Shelley of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Research Center. The founder of Al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation - editor's note) Osama bin Laden used a similar scheme to transfer funds.
In the case of leaked documents, we are talking about correspondence, contracts, invoices and information about over 1.3 million bank transfers. To a large extent they concern the Lithuanian banks Snoras and Ukio. According to the documents, the double-digit millionth sum was transferred to the account of the company of cellist Sergei Roldugin, one of the best friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Roldugin himself, whose name also appeared in the Panama Papers, did not respond to the request.
The accounts of one Bavarian company also received about $ 48 million, the origin of which the German head of the company could not explain. For years, money laundering officers have argued that money is laundered from Russia on a large scale in Germany, for example, through real estate and gambling clubs, as well as through allegedly non-suspicious business areas.
Hannes Munzinger, Frederik Obermaier, Bastian Obermayer