Published: August 22, 2014

Three years ago, OCCRP exposed the “Russian Laundromat” - an immense financial fraud scheme that enabled vast sums to be pumped out of Russia. The money was laundered and moved into Europe and beyond through bribery and a clever exploitation of the Moldovan legal system.

Recently, OCCRP and Novaya Gazeta obtained detailed banking records for more than 120 accounts that made up the Laundromat. We shared the data with dozens of reporters from around the world who tracked down the money locally. The results are "The Russian Laundromat Exposed" - a new project which reveals far more about how the scheme worked and where the money went. The stories below explain how more than $20.8 billion was taken out of Russia and laundered, who got the money, and why some of the world’s largest banks failed to shut the scheme down.

Stories


Where did the money go?

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Danske Bank and Nordea Involved in Global Corruption and Bribery Scandals

More startling cases reveal the involvement of big Danish banks, according to American and Italian authorities.

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Aivar Rehe: It Sounds Very Illogical

The former head of the Estonian branch of Danske bank, Aivar Rehe, says he did not know anything about transactions from Moldova and that this story sounds very illogical.

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Money From Moldova Disappeared in North Tallinn

The two biggest beneficiaries of the Russia-Moldova cash flow in Estonia are phantom clients of tycoon Endel Siff's modest office building in Tallinn's Bekker port.

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What Regulators Do When the Russians Launder Millions

15 million Euros poured into Slovenia right past the Office for Money Laundering Prevention, which detects any transfer above €15,000.

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Customers From Money Laundering Case Had Accounts in Controversial Nordea Branch

The case of the laundered billions once again sheds critical light on Nordea's explanations in the wake of last year's Panama Papers scandal.

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Shipping Brokers With No Agents and No Ships

Among the four biggest recipients of money from the Laundromat with Slovenian bank accounts are two shipping companies registered in Cyprus.

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Money Laundering Case: Russian Criminals Went Big-Scale Shopping in Danish Firms

Luxury goods from Copenhagen Fur, a fur company, and Martin Professional, a lighting company, emerge in a gigantic money laundering case from Eastern Europe. Martin Professional is launching an internal investigation.

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Bitter Moment of Truth for Estonian Banking

The lion's share of the $1.6 billion of Russian money laundered through Estonian banks came straight from a suspicious Moldovan bank.

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Video: Samsung's Overseas Branch Receives Millions From Shell Companies

A video about Samsung’s role in the Russian Laundromat with English subtitles.

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Probes Show How Russian Money Travels the World

Barron’s presents a detailed examination of what Eastern European authorities claim is questionable money leaving the Russian Federation to fund payments around the world.

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A Factory for the Chechen President From the Laundromat

Omnia Arhing got €5.2 million on its NLB bank account. The company’s head got certificates of honor from Kadyrov.

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Sydbank Threw Out Customers From Money Laundering Case

While Danske Bank and Nordea let bank transfers connected to a major money laundering case pour through for several years, Sydbank responded immediately.

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Samsung's Overseas Branch Receives Millions From Shell Companies

A story focused on funds received through Laundromat by Samsung’s European subsidiary.

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Estonian Banks Used to Launder Vast Sums

Banks in Estonia were used to move nearly $1.6 billion of criminal funds from Russia, OCCRP uncovered with help from Postimees and Novaya Gazeta.

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Ms. Mayor’s Bank

The Russian Land Bank belonged until 2011 to Jelena Baturina, the wife of former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov…

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Moscow-London-Gänsedorf

What started in Moscow stopped in Gänserndorf. The money flowed in 16 tranches to the Lower Austrian municipality just an hour from Vienna...

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Billions of Laundered Russian Dollars Ended up on Dutch and European Bank Accounts

The story has all the ingredients of an exciting movie. Swiss bank accounts full of millions destined for fur coats, jewelry and even pop concerts…

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Swedish and Norwegian Banks Involved in Major Money Laundering Case

The three major Swedish banks, Handelsbanken, Swedbank, and particularly SEB, as well as the major Norwegian bank DNB, received bank transfers in a large-scale case of money laundering from Moldova. Handelsbanken was "aware" of suspicious transfers and cut off cooperation with the participating Latvian bank.

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The Role of German Banks in the Russian Laundromat

For a long time, Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, and others accepted questionable transfers from Eastern Europe…

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Most of the Laundered Millions Came to Accounts of NLB Bank

Payments in Slovenia came from “straw companies” in Great Britain and Cyprus…

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Operation “Laundromat” - 21 Billion Dirty Dollars from Russia

More than $9 million of Russian dirty money quietly and easily penetrated the Polish banking system…

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A Matrioshka of Bentleys

The arrow on the speedometer of the opulent Bentley points to 250 km/hr..

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Billions Flowed Unnoticed From Europe’s Poor Backyard and Into Danish Banks

In cooperation with the media throughout the world, Berlingske investigated where the money came from…

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Millions from Laundromat for the Shor Group

Six firms connected to the Shor family used money that went through Laundromat…

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Laundered Billions Poured Through Danish Banks

Billions of Danish kroner have over time been transferred to accounts in Danske Bank and Nordea belonging to shady companies in tax havens…

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The Russian Laundromat

Bribed judges, corrupt banks, and opaque “mailbox companies” - how alleged black money from Russia came onto the books of German companies.

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The Era of Leaked Data

Almost exactly a year after the disclosure of the Panama Papers, journalists have once again uncovered…

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Switzerland as a Hub

More than half a billion dollars of questionable origin have come to Switzerland from Russia in devious ways…

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Video: How the Laundromat Works

To hide its origin, the alleged black money is shoved across Europe…

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British Banks Handled Vast Sums of Russian Money

Billions of dollars were moved out of Russia in ‘Global Laundromat’ operation, with anonymously owned UK companies playing major role…

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Interview with Paul Radu, OCCRP Director and Laundromat Editor

It all began with a different story…

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This is how the Russian Laundromat Works

More than €19 billion were shipped across the world through an ingenious network of "mailbox companies” from Russia. We will show you how.

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The Russian Laundromat

It’s one of the largest known money laundering cases in recent history…

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The Brotherhood of Financial Laundromats from Russia

The Czech banks are pulling money from Russian sources, and they’re doing it in style…

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The Czech Link in the Russian Laundromat

The Czech Republic occupies a relatively important place in the whole scheme…

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How to Steal 20 Billion

A series of stories about the Russian Laundromat’s reach into the Baltics - with a focus on the banks involved.

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Dirty Money Laundromat

The Laundromat money ended up in dozens of companies in Finland through the Finnish banks…

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The Great Russian Laundromat, $21 Billion, and Greece

Offshore companies, government money laundering investigations, and hundreds of companies around the world allegedly not aware of those who sends them money…

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No money? Here you go.

700 billion rubles were taken out of the country. Novaya Gazeta answers the question of who got this enormous sum.

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