British banks handled $740 million of laundered Russian money - The Guardian

Britain’s high street banks HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays and others processed nearly $740 million from a vast money-laundering operation run by Russian criminals with links to the Russian government, - RBK Ukraina reports, referring to The Guardian.

HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Barclays and Coutts are among 17 banks based in the UK, that are facing questions over what they knew about the international scheme and why they did not turn away suspicious money transfers. Documents seen by The Guardian show that at least $20 billion appears to have been moved out of Russia during a four-year period between 2010 and 2014.

The true figure could be $80 billion, detectives believe. The Guardian’s source involved in the inquiry said the money from Russia was “obviously either stolen or with criminal origin”.

"Investigators estimate a group of about 500 people were involved. These include oligarchs, Moscow bankers, and figures working for or connected to the FSB, - The Guardian reports. Igor Putin, the cousin of Russia’s president, Vladimir, sat on the board of a Moscow bank which held accounts involved in the fraud. The documents include details of about 70,000 banking transactions, including 1,920 that went through UK banks and 373 via US banks.