Europe: Russian-Operated Network and Bn

europe: In all, it is estimated that 4.6bn 3.5bn was sent to Europe and the US from a Russian-operated network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania, according to The Guardian. The details have emerged from 1.3m banking transactions obtained by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Lithuanian website 15min.lt. Money flowing through the network included cash that can be linked to some of the most notorious frauds committed during Vladimir Putin's presidency. Shared with media partners including the Guardian, the data represents one of the largest ever banking leaks. However, the documents indicate that criminal and legitimate money may have been mixed together, making it impossible to trace the original source, before passing through screen companies into the global banking system. There is no suggestion that end recipients of funds were aware of the original source of the money, which arrived via a disguised route. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.