Money laundering gang who exploited Russia-Ukraine war jailed after being caught with £190,000 in cash | UK News

Two members of a criminal gang were jailed for a joint 13 years in jailed for millions of pounds by utilizing the war in Ukraine.

The group used criminal money to buy wagons and trucks in the UK to sell in Ukraine after the start of the war before converting their earnings into cryptocurrency.

They exploited the legal demand for vehicles in Ukraine, and the lack of regulation around cryptocurrency in Ukraine, to wash £ 6.63 million between 2022 and 2023.

Valery Popovych, 52, of Sunbury -on -on -Thams, and Vitaliy Lutsak (43) of Cheeshunt, Hertfordshirewill serve both 6.5 years in prison, after a five -week trial.

Popovych’s wife, 42-year-old Oksana Popovych, also from Sunbury-on-Thames, will be sentenced on May 30.

They were all convicted of transferring criminal property or money laundering – and running an unregistered money service business, after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Crime Team.

At the sentencing of Monday, Justice John Dodd KC told the men: “It was clearly sophisticated offense, performed over a sustained period.

“I am satisfied that each of you has played a leading role in this operation.”

Valeriy Popovych has bought an export business, Sprint Commercial Ltd, the vehicles in the United Kingdom of Legal Traders and sold it in Ukraine. His wife was also employed by the business.

He would buy the vehicles with criminal cash before the selling returns were deposited into a money service or currency exchange in Ukraine and then converted into cryptocurrency.

Lutsak acted as the money coordinator in the operation and sent Popovych to collect the illegal cash of criminal customers in the UK, which he then used to buy the vehicles. Police found that more than $ 14 million in cryptocurrency was stored by its ‘cryptowallets’ on his computer.

Part of the crop cash was controlled by a Russian citizen called Semen Kuksov, who was convicted at the Southwark Crown Court on October 27, 2023, under the destabilility of the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Kuksov was sentenced in February 2024 to five years and seven months imprisonment at the Southwark Crown Court.

During the investigation into Popovych and Lutsak, police uncovered a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that proved to be £ 6.63 million in cash between August 2022 and June 2023.

The criminal enterprise has enabled Valeriy and Oksana Popovych to purchase a second home in Southwest London for just under £ 1m.

Police acted on intelligence on June 28, 2023 and stopped a vehicle in Twickenham, in which Valeiry Popovych was the passenger. With officers, more than £ 60,000 found cash in the vehicle before arresting him at the scene.

Officers then searched his address on Gloucester Road, Feltham, where they recovered £ 130,000 cash. This money was seized with its electronic devices.

The Economic Crime Unit discovered the link to Oksana and Lutsak, who were arrested in their homes on May 15, 2024.

More from Sky News:
Surgeon guilty of attempting to kill ex-boss
Two in court over Trump Golf Resort damage

The Met’s economic crime unit worked with partner agencies, including the NCA, HM income and customs and the authority for financial behavior to conduct their investigation. This involves assessing complicated evidence, including chats, money transactions, CCTV, cryptocurrency wallets and call logs.

Nine Momtahen, specialist prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service, says money laundering is not a ‘victimless crime’ and they intend to seize the money obtained by their criminal activity.