Fintech firm A7 ran Kremlin-backed money-laundering network using Hungarian conduit

A fintech venture named A7, created in Russia and Kyrgyzstan with support from Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor and the Russian state bank Promsvyazbank, ran a large-scale money-laundering operation endorsed by the Kremlin as a substitute for the SWIFT system. After Western banks excluded Russian institutions in 2022, A7 processed cross-border payments through more than a hundred front companies, spanning the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and a pivotal Hungarian firm that channeled funds into the European Union.

The scheme relied on industrial-size forgery, generating counterfeit accounts, shipping documents and corporate stamps copied from unsuspecting firms to evade banking compliance. According to the leaked documents, several transfers were earmarked for sensitive war-related items, including military hardware and procurement for Russian security services.