A 24-year-old Russian who became a Maltese citizen ran a “professional banking service for criminals across the world” as part of a wider billion-dollar money-laundering network, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has said.
Semen Kuksov, who acquired a Maltese passport in 2022 together with his father, has been linked to a network allegedly used to support “serious and organised crime”, ranging from Russian ransomware attacks to drug dealing in the UK.
Details about Kuksov’s role in the network feature in an NCA-led investigation codenamed Operation Destabilise.
Operation Destabilise uncovered a complex scheme in which the networks collect funds in one country and make the equivalent value available in another, often by swapping cryptocurrency for cash.
Kuksov “admitted” to operating an underground cryptocurrency exchange.
The crime agency said the investigation exposed and disrupted Russian money laundering networks supporting crime around the world.
As part of the network, Kuksov and an associate helped launder over €14 million during a 74-day period.
Times of Malta and OCCRP had revealed in April how Kuksov featured on the latest list of people granted Maltese citizenship in 2022 under a government scheme to sell citizenship to wealthy individuals.
Rob Jones, the NCA’s director of operations, said Operation Destabilise has exposed billion-dollar money laundering networks operating in a way previously unknown to international law enforcement or regulators.
Kuksov was this year jailed for five years, seven months for his role in the network.
The NCA said Kuksov directed and exercised influence over others involved in money laundering.
He did this over a significant period of time and across borders, demonstrating a high degree of planning.
Kuksov’s network used physical tokens for cash handovers, described by the NCA as a common practice for cash-based money launderers.
Tokens are usually low denomination bank notes which bear a unique serial number. This serial number is passed on before a cash handover takes place and when the two parties meet, the person collecting the cash will produce the bank note to prove that they are the intended party.
The token is usually then handed over, acting as a receipt that the handover has taken place.
An NCA operations manager said Kuksov ran what amounted to a professional banking service for criminals around the world, who could not access the legitimate banking system due to the source of their funds.
Kuksov arranged collection of cash from groups that wanted to get rid of it and delivered cash to groups that needed it, the NCA said.
While money-laundering is often seen as a victimless crime, the NCA said without the services of people like Kuksov, the business model of criminal groups they are enabling would be broken as they would not be able to access their ill-gotten gains.
Kuksov’s father Vladimir, a Russian businessman who also bought a Maltese passport, has not been linked to the case and has distanced himself from his son.
A spokesperson for Community Malta Agency, the government entity responsible for administering the passports scheme, said back in April that it was “reviewing” the documentation about Kuksov’s case.