{
  "id": 16186403,
  "title": "The money starts as bags of cash in a Moscow market and ends up clean in China, leaked files show",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/23/the-money-starts-as-bags-of-cash-in-a-moscow-market-and-ends-up-clean",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-10-23T12:19:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euromaidan Press",
    "slug": "euromaidan-press",
    "url": "https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/10/23/the-money-starts-as-bags-of-cash-in-a-moscow-market-and-ends-up-clean-in-china-leaked-files-show/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Between November 2024 and July 2025, Russia's state-backed payment firm A7 received at least 283 tons of cash rubles, equivalent to over $14 billion, from Moscow's Sadovod market, according to leaked internal records. This cash laundering scheme, exposed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Russian investigative outlet Proekt, involves moving money through Chinese banks, making it difficult to trace the funds back to their origin. A7, co-owned by Russia's state defense bank Promsvyazbank, was added to the US Treasury's list of significant transnational criminal organizations in October. The cash primarily comes from Moscow's wholesale and retail markets and illegal crypto exchanges. Once the cash is collected, it is transported to A7 offices, where it is counted and credited to the firm. From there, A7 orders shell companies outside Russia to pay its clients, mostly Chinese exporters, through Kyrgyzstan. The money is transferred to Chinese banks such as ICBC, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank, with no trace of the original Russian funds. Chinese banks began refusing Russia-linked payments in December 2023, making it easier for the funds to be accepted by Chinese banks. A7 has publicly denied the US accusations, claiming it has a modern compliance system.",
  "summary": "The firm, co-owned by the bank behind Russia’s defense industry, hides where the money starts before it reaches foreign banks.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}