Washing Billions: A Comprehensive Guide to Cleaning Large Sums of Money
Here's How to Pull Off a Fiver-Billion Wash: An Unsavory Tutorial
In the murky world of illicit dealings, here's a step-by-step guide on laundering a whopping five billion:
- Befriend a Complicit Bank:Scout for a bank that's more than willing to turn a blind eye to your illegal activities.
- Establish a Legion of Shell Companies:Create over 20 shell companies, then open bank accounts for them all within your chosen bank.
- Fund Gaming Accounts on the Sly:Give participants the details for depositing cash into their gaming accounts, keeping the origin a well-guarded secret.
- Camouflage Payments:In the payment description, phrase the transfer as payment for non-existent goods or services, preferably hard-to-verify items.
- Split the Gains:Allocate different percentages of each transaction among the masterminds.
- Withdraw the Funds:Extract money through related commercial structures.
- Avoid Raids:Do your utmost best to evade detection. As we all know, that last step didn't pan out too well this time.
Recent Bust by the SBU and BEB Exposes a Disastrous Five-Billion Hryvnia Laundering Scam
This is the same game plan that recently got busted by the SBU in cahoots with the BEB. It's said that the executives and co-owner of one of Kyiv's commercial banks orchestrated the illegal operation, managing to launder around five billion hryvnias in a single year.
For their nefarious deeds, three bank officials have been slapped with suspicions under two articles of the Ukrainian Criminal Code: part 2 of article 203-2 (illegal gambling and lottery activities) and part 3 of article 209 (money laundering from criminal activities).
Not surprisingly, media outlets quickly linked the scheme to the now defunct Ajbox Bank, whose license was revoked by the NBU in March of this year. But the powers that be at Ajbox Bank vehemently deny any association, asserting that no charges have been leveled against the bank's management. Given the circumstances, they're even thinking about filing suits to safeguard their tarnished reputations.
As the investigation moves forward, all aspects of the crime are being painstakingly analyzed, and decisions are being made regarding the appropriate preventive measures for the suspects.
Author: Maria Polianskaia
Looking for more on this side of the law?
- Joker’s Wild: Court Reinstates Gambling License
- Betting War: BEB Cracks Down on Poker Players
- Victorian-era Gaming Regulations Make a Modern Comeback
In the aftermath of the SBU and BEB's bust, it has become clear that the illegal five-billion hryvnia laundering scheme was facilitated by executives and co-owners of a commercial bank using tactics similar to those outlined in the guiding articles on finance and general-news. The laundering strategy, which involved setting up a legion of shell companies, gaming accounts, and camouflaging payments, mirrors the unsavory tutorial on laundering large sums of money in the industry of crime and justice.
Finance and general-news outlets are now tracing the origins of this scheme as attitudes toward gambling and money laundering undergo further scrutiny in light of these recent events, with some questioning whether the reverse of Victorian-era gaming regulations could provide a solution to the ongoing issue.
![Factory operations scheduled for late 2027 kickoff, as per the plans. [Picture included]](/en/img/2025/05/16/1479007/jpeg/4-3/1200/75/image-description.webp)
