Russians ‘Use Crypto Exchanges to Send USDT to UK’

Russians are using “several” crypto exchanges in Moscow to send Tether (USDT) to people based in the UK, a new report has claimed.

According to NGO Transparency International’s Russia branch and media outlet The Bell, “several crypto exchanges” are now “operating” in Moscow, where they “offer services” that allow Russians to “withdraw cash” in the UK.

The NGO stated that it has “become possible to transfer money out of Russia using crypto exchanges located in the Moscow International Business Center [aka Moscow-City].”

Sanctions and counter-sanctions have placed strict controls on the movement of funds between Russia and foreign nations.

But Transparency International Russia said it had found “eight Russian-based crypto exchanges that said they were willing to transfer USDT.”

The platforms said they would “change tokens to cash for delivery in London.”

NGO wrote:

“Despite our [requests] to make transfers that would result in the delivery of over [$12,000] in cash (yes, bags full of cash), there was a distinct lack of curiosity from these exchanges about the identity of their customers.”

How do Russian crypto exchanges send cash to the UK?

Transparency International Russia added that its undercover agents “were not asked to provide a passport or any other type of identification document for the exchange to take place.”

It said the exchanges only asked for “details of what the collector would be wearing and possibly the serial number of a note to prove their identity.”

The NGO noted that London-based cash “couriers” were “Russian-speaking.” and it said handover details were arranged using the Telegram chat app.

One of the exchanges was named as Suex, a platform that was hit by US sanctions in 2021.

Washington believes that Suex has enabled money laundering on its platform.

Failing to ask for customer identity details “is a direct breach of UK anti-money laundering laws,” the NGO noted.

The NGO added that the researchers were able to trace the histories of a number of crypto wallets linked to the exchanges.

And it said it found some wallets had processed up to $470,000 worth of USDT.

The exchanges also appear to have dealt with smaller amounts of less popular crypto-assets, Transparency International Russia wrote.

Earlier this month, the Russian government’s anti-money laundering (AML) agency said it is monitoring around 25,000 users it suspects of committing AML violations.