Source: Financial Times [UK]
“JPMorgan Chase and HSBC unwittingly processed payments for companies in Africa controlled by the deceased Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, as his sanctions-hit Wagner private army expanded across a continent where it has been accused of brutal human rights abuses. Leaked documents obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a Washington-based think-tank, show that in 2017 a Sudanese company controlled by Prigozhin made purchases of industrial equipment from China that passed through large western banks. … The leaked documents show how Prigozhin, who was assassinated last year after attempting a failed mutiny against Russian President Vladimir Putin, was able to establish a transnational criminal empire in natural resources in part by secretly hijacking the payments systems of western financial institutions.” (09/24/24)