A Financial Times investigation, based on a leak from the fintech company A7, has revealed a Kremlin-backed forgery scheme that moved $6.9 billion through global banks. The report highlights that thousands of Russian payments were processed by institutions such as Standard Chartered, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank. This scheme utilized forged documents and a network of shell companies to bypass sanctions and integrate with the global financial system, with some payments allegedly linked to sensitive military goods and Russian intelligence agencies.
The A7 fintech, established in Russia and Kyrgyzstan with support from Promsvyazbank (PSB), a state-owned bank tied to the Russian defense industry, claimed to process nearly 20% of Russia's foreign trade payments. The scheme involved creating shell companies, many based in the UAE and Hong Kong, which deposited funds into SWIFT-connected banks using falsified invoices. Notably, $1.1 billion was transferred to Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, $273 million to DBS Bank in Hong Kong, and $74 million to Citigroup clients between late 2024 and August 2025. Additionally, $18 million reached Deutsche Bank clients in Europe, and over $1.8 billion flowed through First Abu Dhabi Bank.
The elaborate scheme involved creating a library of thousands of corporate seals, some counterfeit and others copied from legitimate companies, to generate deceptive paper trails. Shell companies received instructions to misrepresent sanctioned goods with unrestricted customs codes to avoid suspicion. While some banks, like Standard Chartered, detected suspicious activity and closed recipient accounts in February 2025, A7 adapted by shifting operations, particularly routing more payments through the UAE. The full financial and regulatory consequences for the involved banks remain unclear, but the scale of the operation suggests potential material enforcement actions, remediation costs, and reputational damage.
