Russian Spy Ring Funded Through Crypto Laundromat, UK Police Reveal

The UK National Crime Agency has exposed how Russian intelligence services channeled funds to a convicted espionage network through a cash-to-crypto laundering operation run by businesswoman Ekaterina Zhdanova, who attempted to bankroll former Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek’s spy ring. The revelation connects billion-dollar money laundering networks to geopolitics, organized crime, and state-sponsored activity across at least 28 British towns and cities.According to Bloomberg, nearly a year after dismantling two Russian laundromats that moved billions globally, the NCA revealed Zhdanova’s “Smart” network was used by individuals working with Russian intelligence services to fund six Bulgarian nationals now serving up to 10 years for espionage. Marsalek, who worked for Russian intelligence and disappeared during Wirecard’s 2020 collapse, spent as much as £45,000 ($58,768) on operations that included spying on journalists and politicians while plotting assassinations before the network’s dismantling source: https://cryptonews.com/news/russian-spy-ring-funded-through-crypto-laundromat-uk-police-reveal/