- The donor is Christopher Harborne, a big supporter of former UK politician Nigel Farage and a reported holder of a 12% stake in Tether (USDT).
- According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), the laundering networks used Tether to obscure the origin of funds, get around international sanctions, and send funds to support Russia’s military operations and sanctioned people.
- The NCA has exposed a billion-dollar criminal network operating in the UK, where two groups ran a massive cash-for-crypto business.
Investigators in the UK say a cryptocurrency tied to a big political donor is being used to fund Russian war effort activities. The donor is Christopher Harborne, a big supporter of former UK politician Nigel Farage and a reported holder of a 12% stake in Tether (USDT).
According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), the laundering networks used Tether to obscure the origin of funds, get around international sanctions, and send funds to support Russia’s military operations and sanctioned people.
While Harborne himself hasn’t been accused of any crime, critics say his ownership stake in Tether is a big problem for his reputation, especially considering how USDT is so commonly used in illegal financial activities.
Additionally, the NCA has exposed a billion-dollar criminal network operating in the UK, called Operation Destabilise, run by two main groups identified as Smart and TGR. These groups run a massive cash-for-crypto business, where couriers pick up illegal money (from crimes like drug dealing) in at least 28 UK cities and exchange it for cryptocurrency.
The NCA says that more than £25 million (roughly $32.6 million) in cash and crypto has been seized, leading to 128 arrests so far in connection with this investigation.
Two individuals, Ekaterina Zhdanova from the Smart group and George Rossi from TGR, have been named as the central organizers of the operation.
Potential Impact on the Crypto Industry
The fact that Tether, one of the most widely used stablecoins, is reportedly a big part of such schemes can be of concern. Even though most people utilize it for legal purposes, this kind of abuse gives all stablecoins a bad name and may lead to much tougher government rules for the companies that issue them.
The impact of this investigation could make regulators push for more transparency on stablecoin reserves, proof-of-reserve, and ownership. Law enforcement will likely now be paying much more attention to services that convert physical cash into crypto across borders. This means crypto companies, especially exchanges that handle large cash conversions, will face more rules and paperwork to prevent illegal activity.
Plus, for crypto to go mainstream, people need to be able to trust it, but high-profile scandals like this one can slow down its acceptance.
Related: Binance Cuts Illegal Crypto Activity to Historic Lows, Data Shows
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Source: https://coinedition.com/tether-usdt-implicated-in-russian-war-funding-linked-to-uk-political-donor/
