Ukraine police dismantle $414 million laundering network

Ukrainian National Police have dismantled a large-scale “conversion centre” allegedly handling around ₴18 billion ($414 million) in illicit financial flows, authorities said.

Investigators said the scheme operated through a structured organisation, ranging from an organiser currently believed to be abroad to couriers and financial operatives on the ground, Caliber.Az reports, citing the National Police of Ukraine.

The alleged mastermind coordinated operations remotely, while key roles in accounting, financial transfers, and recruitment of so-called “straw” individuals were handled by associates. Many of those recruited to register shell companies were reportedly people in vulnerable financial circumstances.

According to police, operational control of the network was delegated by the organiser to his mother, who acted as the group’s de facto financial director.

Authorities allege the group used the credentials of more than 100 fictitious companies and around 400 sole proprietorships to conduct non-genuine transactions, generating artificial VAT credits. These mechanisms were then used to assist businesses in the real economy in evading tax obligations.

To move funds abroad, the network reportedly relied on more than 20 controlled non-resident companies registered across EU jurisdictions and the United Arab Emirates.

Money was then either withdrawn in cash or converted into cryptocurrency through a wide network of exchange points operating in cities including Kyiv, Prague, London, Berlin, Rome, Milan, Vienna, Athens, Warsaw, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Helsinki and Melbourne, among others.