UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) announced on December 4th that it has started to investigate a cross-boarder money laundering case that involves cryptocurrencies.
According to the official announcement, the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) said that it spearheaded a global investigation to dismantle Russian money laundering networks that were discovered to support organized and serious crime in South America, Russia, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom.
The investigation comes against a backdrop of the UK authorities being more alert and vigilant with illicit crypto activities given a higher adoption of digital assets in the region.
UK’s NCA Undertakes Operation To Seize $25.4 Million Crypto and Other Assets
Operation Destabilise, as it was code-named by the NCA, has led to the arrest of 84 suspects connected to the Russian-speaking networks TGR and Smart. Furthermore, cash and cryptocurrency valued at £20 million ($25.4 million) have been confiscated related to the case.
In order to prevent drug profits from being discovered, the Moscow-based global operation had been accepting illicit funds from criminal organizations in exchange for untraceable cryptocurrency.
At a briefing earlier this week, the NCA and its partners informed reporters that the network operates in 30 countries and has so far resulted in the arrest of 84 people, including 71 in the UK.
Money Laundering Via Crypto Sees Rise Globally
Global money laundering issues have created a havoc for all regulators alike. That coupled with the ease of using digital assets to launder money has made these illicit activities rise in the past couple of years.
The modus operandi of such crimes is rather simple. Criminals use a variety of services and methods that route money through multiple addresses or companies in order to hide their true source.
After that, the assets are transferred to a destination address or an exchange for liquidation from what appears to be a legitimate source. Because of this procedure, it is extremely challenging to link money laundering to illegal activity.
Moving big sums of money has gotten easier with the availability of more advanced technologies, such as cryptocurrencies. Crypto exchanges were used to launder up to U$2.8 billion in 2019 and about U$8.6 billion was laundered in 2021, and the amount is still rising.
One factor that attracts cross-boarder illegal criminals to use crypto is that it is possible to use a computer script to carry out a large money laundering scheme that involves thousands of transfers at a minimal cost.