The unnamed man is accused of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the Home Office
Officers with the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) arrested “a wealthy Russian businessman” at his home in London, the agency announced on Saturday. The raid was carried out by a task force set up specifically to target Russian-linked suspects.
More than 50 NCA agents had raided the 58-year-old man’s “multi-million-pound residence” on Thursday, law enforcement reported. He was apprehended and charged with money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury, and was released on bail, a statement from the agency read.
A 35-year-old man employed at the residence was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and obstruction, with the NCA stating that he was seen leaving the property “with a bag found to contain thousands of pounds in cash.”
A third man, who is described as the ex-boyfriend of the businessman’s current partner, was arrested at his home in London’s Pimlico neighborhood, and charged with money laundering and conspiracy to defraud.
While the man’s age coincides with that of Alfa Group co-founder and London resident Mikhail Fridman, Alfa Bank’s press department told the Russian newspaper Kommersant that “Fridman is at home, not under arrest,” and that the organization does not know “who this news is about.”
The raid was carried out by officers from the NCA’s ‘Combatting Kleptocracy Cell,’ a unit set up by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February to target Russians allegedly evading British sanctions on Moscow. The unit is tasked with freezing the assets of sanctioned Russian businessmen, and seizing money and assets sent or received by them in defiance of the sanctions.
While the NCA describes those targeted as “corrupt,” there is no evidence that any of the assets seized were considered illicit before the British government sanctioned more than 1,300 Russian individuals and entities in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
The NCA has carried out nearly 100 so-called “disruptions” against Russian “elites and their enablers” to date.
The Russian embassy in London has demanded that British authorities immediately explain the reasons and circumstances of the Russian businessman’s arrest.
