Standard Chartered, Citigroup and other international banks handled billions from a Kremlin-backed fintech company that tricked its way into the global financial system with a vast document forgery operation. Hundreds of thousands of files obtained by the FT from inside A7, a group set up as an alternative to the western payments system, reveal how it used old-fashioned money laundering to funnel more than $6.9bn through the international banking system despite sanctions on Russia.

Some payments related to sensitive war-related goods, including military equipment and purchases by Russia’s security services. Accounts at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong received $1.1bn from A7-linked entities between late 2024 and August 2025. DBS in Hong Kong was sent $273mn and Citigroup clients received $74mn. A7 was set up in Russia and Kyrgyzstan by Ilan Shor, a Moldovan oligarch, with support from Promsvyazbank (PSB).

The FT found evidence of 100 A7 front companies making payments. Documents mention at least 100 more, including 61 in the UAE, 87 in Hong Kong, 16 in Kyrgyzstan and 14 in Indonesia. The FT’s Anne-Sylvaine Chassany, Chris Cook and Anastasia Stognei reveal how the forgery scheme worked.