British banks and Russian money laundering operations:
“Britain’s high
street banks processed nearly $740m from a vast money-laundering operation run
by Russian criminals with links to the Russian government and the KGB, the
Guardian can reveal.
HSBC, the Royal
Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, Barclays and Coutts are among 17 banks based in the
UK, or with branches here, 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 $20bn appears to have been moved out of Russia
during a four-year period between 2010 and 2014. The true figure could be
$80bn, detectives believe.”