London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 21, 2025

Sanctioned Putin associate ‘laundered millions’ through Barclays

Sanctioned Putin associate ‘laundered millions’ through Barclays

One of Vladimir Putin's closest friends may have used Barclays Bank in London to launder money and dodge sanctions, leaked documents suggest.
Billionaire Arkady Rotenberg has known the Russian president since childhood.

Financial restrictions, or sanctions, were imposed on Mr Rotenberg by the US and the EU in 2014, which means Western banks could face serious consequences for doing business with him.

Barclays says it met all its legal and regulatory duties.

A leak of confidential files – banks’ “suspicious activity reports” – reveal how companies believed to be controlled by Mr Rotenberg kept the secret accounts.

The documents, known as the FinCEN Files, have been seen by the BBC’s Panorama programme.

Inner circle

In March 2014 the US hit Russia with economic sanctions following the annexation of Crimea in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department designated Mr Rotenberg, 68, and his brother Boris, 63, “members of the Russian leadership’s inner circle”.

The pair had sparred and trained in the same judo gym as Putin when they were young.

In recent years, Arkady Rotenberg’s companies built roads, a gas pipeline and a power station through contracts awarded by the Russian state.

The US Treasury said the brothers “provided support to Putin’s pet projects” and “made billions of dollars in contracts for Gazprom and the Sochi Winter Olympics awarded to them by Putin”.

In 2018, the US added Arkady Rotenberg’s son Igor to its list of sanctioned individuals.

The aim of the sanctions is to cut off named people from the entire Western financial system.

Yet the Rotenbergs appear to have continued moving cash through the UK and US.

Art and money laundering

In 2008, Barclays opened an account for a company called Advantage Alliance.

The leaked documents show the company moved £60m between 2012 and 2016. Many of the transactions occurred after the Rotenberg brothers had been sanctioned.

In July this year, an investigation by the US Senate accused the Rotenbergs of using secretive purchases of expensive art to evade sanctions – one of the companies involved in the scheme was Advantage Alliance.

US investigators concluded there was strong evidence that Advantage Alliance was owned by Arkady Rotenberg, and that the company had used its Barclays account in London to buy millions of dollars of art for him.

A report noted how “secrecy, anonymity, and a lack of regulation create an environment ripe for laundering money and evading sanctions”. Auction houses in the US and UK “failed to ask basic questions” about the buyers of the art.

Despite the sanctions, Arkady appears to have paid $7.5m to acquire the René Magritte painting La Poitrine.

In 17 June 2014 a company linked to Arkady sent the cash from Moscow to Alliance’s Barclays account in London. The following day Barclays sent the cash to the seller in New York.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
×