Channel without communication: sanctions against Russia slow down the investigation of crimes in the EU

Russia has found channels to combat financial crimes, despite the difficulties in working with financial intelligence agencies of Western countries against the background of sanctions, Yuri Chikhanchin, head of Rosfinmonitoring, told Izvestia. Moscow conducts a large number of operations with the CSTO countries. At the same time, the financial intelligence services of a number of European countries still refuse to interact with the Russian Federation for political reasons, Rosfinmonitoring noted. This harms the disclosure of international financial crimes and the security of their own citizens, the agency believes.

How Russia is fighting global financial crime

Moscow continues to successfully combat financial crimes both at home and internationally, despite existing obstacles, Yuri Chikhanchin, head of Rosfinmonitoring, told Izvestia. Although back in October 2023, the Egmont Group, which unites financial intelligence units from more than 160 countries, suspended Rosfinmonitoring's membership amid a special operation in Ukraine.

— Russia, having lost the opportunity to interact through the Egmont Group channel, has found other channels, and we are working. Where there is criminality, we do our best to prove and try to find traces of this crime, primarily related to asset recovery and terrorism. The work is underway," said Yuri Chikhanchin.

Russia, in particular, is strengthening cooperation through the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

— The CSTO is our reliable, good partner. We carry out a large number of operations with him," Chikhanchin said.

Over the past few years, according to Rosfinmonitoring and the Central Bank, the number of illegal financial transactions in Russia, as well as cross-border ones, has been reduced several times, German Neglyad, deputy head of the department, told Izvestia. And this is despite the fact that some European countries refuse to cooperate because of their anti-Russian position.

According to Rosfinmonitoring, since the beginning of 2023, at least one investigation initiated by Russian agencies has not been supported by colleagues from other countries. An unnamed international criminal group remotely committed crimes against citizens of one of the European countries. Illegally obtained income was also deposited in banks here. More than a hundred people were injured.

Despite repeated requests from Rosfinmonitoring and offers to share data and bring the group to justice together, European counterparts refused to cooperate. At the moment, the situation remains very difficult.

— Of course, we regret it, because often even in cases where citizens of European countries are victims, and their number is measured in thousands, the authorities of these countries are still unwilling to cooperate for political reasons. In vain, one might say, they eat their bread, which is provided to them by taxpayers, and they damage, first of all, the financial security of their countries and their citizens. These are European countries. The situation has not changed significantly," Herman Neglyad told Izvestia.

That is why hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens are being attacked by telephone scammers who feel comfortable and safe in European countries, Ilya Vasilchuk, a judicial lawyer, an expert on the security of electronic transactions, and a public figure, told Izvestia.

As Mikhail Kuznetsov, head of the executive committee of the Popular Front, reported in March, almost 90% of Russians have encountered phone scams, and about 10 million Russians have become their victims, having lost money. According to Sber estimates, in 2024 alone, fraudsters stole at least 295 billion rubles from Russians. Despite the fact that most of the attempts were prevented.

So far, it is obvious that the situation is deteriorating and without radical changes in global politics, it is not worth waiting for noticeable improvements, Ilya Vasilchuk summed up. The current dynamics demonstrate a low level of trust and mutual respect between the parties, which will lead to long-term negative consequences, the expert concluded.

Europe is sabotaging the investigation of financial crimes

Of course, this is not to say that European countries are not dealing with the problem of money laundering and terrorist financing. Interest from these countries is also being recorded, they are actively working, remaining participants in the Egmont system and other coordinating bodies, Yuri Chikhanchin emphasized. But the unwillingness of many Western countries to cooperate with Russia through one channel or another reduces the efficiency of work.

The FATF suspended Russia's membership in February 2023, a move Moscow called politicized. At the same time, Russia remains a member of the global anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) network and chairman of the EAG. And the Russian "anti—money laundering" system is considered one of the best in the world, as confirmed by the FATF's own assessment in 2019.

Another proof was the fact that the Russian Federation refused to be blacklisted or gray-listed, despite Ukraine's appeals. The first group includes countries with "serious strategic shortcomings" in combating money laundering and terrorist financing (these are North Korea, Iran and Myanmar), the second includes countries with weak anti—money laundering regimes, but at least a desire to actively cooperate (these include Yemen, Mali, Syria, the Philippines and Bulgaria, a member EU).

Meanwhile, Russia is actively increasing cooperation in this area with partners from various regions of the world. This was fully demonstrated by the 42nd plenary week of the Eurasian Group on Countering Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (EAG). Over 200 delegates from more than 15 countries, as well as more than 20 international organizations, were announced among the participants. The events were attended by representatives of not only financial intelligence, but also relevant ministries and departments, the private sector, experts and academia.

The importance of the format was highlighted by the high level of participation of the Russian delegation both online and offline. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sent messages to the participants of the plenum remotely. Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, spoke in person at the plenary session. He noted that it is especially important to maintain constant cooperation and exchange of experience between the EAG member countries.

On the site of the plenary week, the Russian side, in particular, held a meeting of the Council of heads of the heads of financial intelligence, where the CSTO reported on the results achieved.

— This is related to Operation Channel — these are drugs, this is related to Operation Illegal and a number of other operations. And today the countries of the Eurasian Group have already begun to participate in them," Chikhanchin added.

Observers from international organizations from various countries showed interest in the meeting. These are the countries of the Arab world, Southeast Asia, and the Latin American region - from the point of view of the drug trafficking problem, these are precisely the most active channels of movement, the head of Rosfinmonitoring emphasized.