‘Companies in NZ’ in funds movement

Companies based in New Zealand were part of a criminal scheme to move large sums of money, including the transfer of US$21 billion out of Russia, according to a group of anticorruption reporters.

The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project said that reporters from the group and the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Moscow obtained bank records showing that funds were transferred worldwide via 112 bank accounts in Eastern Europe.

They shared the details of the scheme, dubbed Laundromat, with investigative reporters in 32 countries.

Members of the group say in a report published late Monday that they now know where the funds ended up and that banks allegedly refused to shut it down, despite

Law enforcement agencies . . . continue to investigate Laundromat. OCCRP website

warnings.

Organisers of the scheme created a core of 21 companies based in New Zealand, Cyprus and Britain, run by hidden owners and used by several Russian companies to move their money abroad.

All of the core companies appeared to be owned by proxies standing in for hidden owners, with fake directors and shareholders, though the reporters provided no evidence to back the claims.

“Law enforcement agencies in Moldova, Latvia, Britain and Russia continue to investigate Laundromat, but attempts to bring those responsible to justice and to recover the money have been hampered in part by the reluctance of Russian officials to co-operate,” the group said on its website.

Between 2011 and 2014, the 21 shell companies in New Zealand, Britain and Cyprus sent 26,746 payments from various accounts to 96 countries, including to some of the world’s biggest banks, such as HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Bank of China, Bank of America and Emirates NBD. Laundered money ended up at several big name companies, including Samsung, Ericsson and Black & Decker.

Companies contacted over the report denied wrongdoing, saying such business methods were common with Russian clients. They declined to identify the clients.