The Kremlin dismissed on Monday allegations that the Troika Laundromat channelled billions of dollars out of Russia, claiming the revelations contain nothing new.

The Russian telecommunications firms found to have engaged in bribery and money laundering in Uzbekistan, on Thursday reached a US$850 million settlement with the US Justice Department while the daughter of late president Islam Karimov was nevertheless charged for her part in the decade-long, international bribery scheme.

A week after the publishing of the Troika Laundromat investigation sent shockwaves through Europe, implicating major Western banks, Prince Charles, Putin’s childhood friend, and US$4.6 billion of dirty Russian money, European bank shares tumbled, authorities launched investigations and officials split over whether more actions should be taken.

The Spanish anti-corruption body is investigating the purchase of Costa Brava properties by close allies of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who are believed to have laundered money through The Troika Laundromat apparatus, El Periodico revealed Wednesday.

Russia launched a money laundering probe into the leader of Moldova's Democratic Party on Friday, in what critics claim was an attempt to influence Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

German authorities announced on Wednesday they seized 50 million euros (US$56.7 million) believed to be derived from the “Russian Laundromat” - an international money laundering scheme exposed in 2014 by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

Russia’s State Duma is considering a new law which would make it easier to prosecute the heads of organized crime networks who often avoid direct involvement in crimes, creating a charge of “holding a high position in a criminal hierarchy.”

The branch leader of a Russian anti-corruption organization, Dmitry Gribov, was beaten to death in a town outside Moscow on Monday evening.

When Guatemala expelled a UN-backed anti-corruption commission in early January, the US issued only a vague statement that did not even mention the commission. US media outlets, including Foreign Policy magazine, are now claiming that the US Republican party was working behind the scenes to undermine the commission prior to the incident.

Russian authorities are threatening to ban OCCRP partner Hetq.am from their internet if the Armenian web news service does not remove 2017 articles about a Russian citizen arrested in the Czech Republic.

Russian authorities arrested ruling party official Rauf Arashukov in parliament on Wednesday for allegedly ordering two contract killings and being involved in a criminal organization, according to a statement by the Russian Investigative Committee.

A tug-of-war over a Russian citizen detained in Greece sheds light on a global struggle over policing the multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency sector.

A Russian lawyer who sparked a wave of controversy for her role in a 2016 meeting with senior campaign officials for Donald Trump was charged Tuesday with obstruction of justice in an unrelated money laundering case.

Russia’s former minister of industry acquired stakes in golf courses worth many millions. The properties were once owned by people associated with a major pipe manufacturer that would have fallen under his purview as minister.

Viktor Khristenko, formerly Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade. (Photo: Kremlin.ru)

One of the strangest operations Valery Amelchenko took part in during his work for Prigozhin’s team was a month-long trip to Syria — to test poison on unsuspecting prisoners.

(Photo: REUTERS/Marko Djurica)

Yevgeny Prigozhin ran the infamous St. Petersburg “troll farm” and other pro-Putin media operations. One of his operatives came clean to reporters, sharing some of the dirty work he and his team did for the oligarch — including murder. Then he vanished.

Yevgeny Prigozhin (Mikhail Metzel/TASS via Getty Images)

In a dynamic week for world-wide police agency Interpol, the organization has accepted two new members, rejected the application of Kosovo and named on Wednesday a new president after the previous one resigned following his arrest in China.

Tax authorities in Armenia have launched criminal proceedings against the country’s national gas distribution company, which is owned by Russia’s Gazprom, accusing the Armenian operator of evading millions of dollars in taxes, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported last week.

Once responsible just for his physical security, President Putin’s bodyguards now have impressive titles — and land worth many millions in Russia’s most expensive region. The workers and pensioners who previously held the property say they were swindled out of it.

Illustration: Natalya Yamshchikova

Three of President Putin’s top bodyguards appear to have been amply rewarded for their loyalty with some of Russia’s most valuable land.

Illustration: Natalya Yamshchikova