Jail for organised crime group laundered more than £12 million of criminally obtained cash.
23/04/2024
Two men have been jailed for their role in operating an organised crime group which laundered more than £12 million of criminally obtained cash in the UK.
Semen Kuksov, 23, and Andrii Dzektsa, 27, were sentenced to five years and seven months and five years’ imprisonment respectively at Southwark Crown Court on 1 February 2024 after they both pleaded guilty to two counts of entering into a money laundering arrangement.
Semen Kuksov
- Played a leading role in running the illegal enterprise which laundered large sums of criminally derived cash for a fee.
- Is the 24-year-old son of Russian businessman Vladimir Anatolyevich Kuksov. Both father and son feature on the latest list of people granted Maltese citizenship in 2022. The elder Kuksov has not been connected to his son’s criminal case. The Kuksovs appear to have been given Maltese citizenship weeks before Malta suspended passport sales to wealthy Russians in the wake of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Between July 2022 and September 2023, both Kuksov and Dzutska managed couriers to collect criminal money and deliver the laundered money overseas. During this period, they helped to launder a total of :-
- £12,329,460 in the UK and
- €168,950 in Ireland.
The prosecution used a range of evidence including, encrypted chat logs, call data, analysis of cryptocurrency accounts and CCTV footage, to build a strong case which proved both defendant’s involvement in this criminal enterprise.
Victoria Norman, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, said: “Kuksov and Dzetska helped to run an illegal operation which laundered an enormous sum of criminally obtained cash in a bid to make these funds appear legitimate.
- “Money laundering not only funds and facilitates criminality by aiding an offender’s ability to profit from their ill-gotten gains - it also fuels further criminal endeavours, undermines the UK economy and poses a threat to our national security.
- “This prosecution sends a clear message that the CPS, alongside the NCA, will work tirelessly to help dismantle these criminal networks and prove that crime doesn’t pay.
- “The CPS has commenced proceedings to recover these defendants’ criminal proceeds.”
Source
https://timesofmalta.com/article/maltese-russian-jailed-uk-scheme-launder-14-million.1091337
https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/men-jailed-laundering-more-ps12m-criminal-cash
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