Golden Youth: How a wealthy Gen-Z Russian came to run a cash-to-crypto money laundering scheme from his Kensington flat

This week we’re bringing an episode featuring Ilia Shumanov, board member at Transparency International Russia in Exile and the co-founder of Arctida, a non-profit focused on challenges facing the Russian arctic. Ilia speaks with Rachel Wolcott, Compliance Corylated’s founding editor about the ‘Golden Youth’ series of articles examining one of the actors involved in multi-billion-pound crypto laundering scheme. Ilia and Rachel recently collaborated on an investigation into the Semen Kuksov case. Kuksov, a young wealthy Russian, was jailed in 2024 in the UK after pleaded guilty to laundering £12 million through his cash-to-crypto operation. Ilia and Rachel unpack the case and talk about what it says about Russian sanctions evasion and money laundering methods today.  Links First article: Golden Youth, the new face of Russian money laundering and sanctions evasion Second article: The privileged, privately educated Russian who ran a cash-to-crypto MLAAS for other wealthy Russians and drug traffickers Third article: Wealthy Gen Z Russian laundered money in luxury properties, claimed ADHD caused offending Metropolitan police: Money laundering gang who exploited Russia-Ukraine war jailed (press release)  Crown Prosecution service: Men jailed for laundering more than £12m of criminal cash (press release) Contact: [email protected]