According to a report by the Financial Times, major Western banks such as Standard Chartered and Citigroup processed billions of dollars from a Kremlin-backed fintech company that used extensive document forgery operations to infiltrate the global financial system. A large cache of documents obtained by the FT from A7, a group established as an alternative to the Western payment system, reveals the utilization of outdated money laundering techniques to transfer over $6.9 billion despite sanctions imposed on Russia.
Some transactions disclosed in the leak involved highly sensitive war-related goods, including military equipment and purchases made by Russian security services. While A7 promoted itself as a provider of innovative financial solutions, it relied on a network of shell companies and existing businesses to access the SWIFT system for payment processing. A7 concealed the use of these intermediaries through a large-scale forgery operation that involved generating fake invoices.
From the establishment of A7 in late 2024 until August 2025, $1.1 billion was transferred to accounts at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong from entities linked to A7. During the same period, DBS Bank in Hong Kong received $273 million, while Citigroup clients received $74 million. Furthermore, Deutsche Bank clients in Europe processed approximately $18 million.
A7 also opened accounts at First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest bank in the UAE, for 17 different entities that executed outgoing payments exceeding $1.8 billion. The group also established accounts with JPMorgan Chase and DBS.
Originally founded in Russia and Kyrgyzstan by Ilan Shor, a Moldovan oligarch backed by Promsvyazbank (PSB), a state bank closely linked to the defense industry, A7 has been positioned by the Kremlin as a flagship provider of cross-border payment services since Russian banks were cut off from the SWIFT system following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Evidence from the leak indicates that over 100 shell companies linked to A7 were involved in conducting these transactions.
Documents mention at least another 100 such groups, including at least 61 in the UAE, 87 in Hong Kong, 16 in Kyrgyzstan, and 14 in Indonesia. Global banks that received these suspicious funds have stated that they are cooperating with relevant regulatory authorities, and identified accounts have been closed.
