Guardian

Read

/send

<div class="protos">
 <div>
  <div>
   <div>
    <p>A sanctioned Russian oligarch who sold £15 million of shares in a crypto firm chaired by the former UK chancellor, is believed to have had the funds transferred into cryptocurrency in an attempt to avoid breaching US sanctions, The Guardian reports.&nbsp;</p>
    <p>Mikhail Kly<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="UK" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/uk.html">UK</a>in owned 2% of <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="share" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/share.html">share</a>s in the <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="crypto" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/crypto.html">crypto</a> infrastructure firm Copper Technologies before selling it in May 2022 for £15 million.&nbsp;</p>
    <p>The Guardian understands that Copper acted as an intermediary, converting the buyer’s sterling into cryptocurrency before forwarding it to Klyukin. It reports that the sale looks to have been designed to skirt US sanctions, which outlaw the use of dollars or the involvement of US citizens in financial dealings with sanctioned individuals.</p>
    <p>Hundreds of Russian elites, including Klyukin, were sanctioned by the US in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine. <strong>Klyukin was previously on the supervisory board of Sovcombank</strong>, a Russian private bank ranking ninth in held assets.</p>
    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-protos wp-block-embed-protos">
     <div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
      <blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="1Ht0l0AHLF">
       For crypto and Russia: Spy ring guilty of Ukraine espionage
      </blockquote><iframe class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="“For crypto and Russia: Spy ring guilty of Ukraine espionage” — Protos" src="https://protos.com/for-crypto-and-russia-spy-ring-guilty-of-ukraine-espionage/embed/#?secret=wl1VWNGFdJ#?secret=1Ht0l0AHLF" data-secret="1Ht0l0AHLF" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
     </div>
    </figure>
    <p><em>Read more: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="Russia" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/russia.html">Russia</a>n founder of sanctioned exchange Garantex starts Tether desk</em></p>
    <p>Legal experts claim secondary sanctions from the US were a possibility. The use of crypto in this share deal would have been an aggravating factor, they said, if the US knew a deal with the sanctioned Russian banker was taking place.</p>
    <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-firm-linked-to-uk-politician-helped-oligarch-dodge-sanctions">Firm linked to UK politician helped oligarch dodge sanctions</h2>
    <p>Former UK chancellor Philip Hammond previously acted as a supervisor for Copper during the share sale before becoming a chairman in January 2023. Hammond was reportedly oblivious to the transaction at the time but learned of the deal during a shareholder review.&nbsp;Klyukin was <strong>sanctioned by&nbsp;the UK Foreign Office in September 2022</strong>.</p>
    <p>According to The Guardian, a spokesperson denied Copper acted as an “intermediary” for Klyukin’s share sale. They said it was intended to “divest shares in Copper held by a company associated with a sanctioned individual.”&nbsp;</p>
    <p>“We carefully considered the implications, including with the assistance of specialist external <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="sanctions" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/sanctions.html">sanctions</a> counsel in various jurisdictions, and concluded that the transaction was compliant with all applicable <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" title="sanctions" href="https://thebittimes.com/tag/sanctions.html">sanctions</a> requirements. That remains the case today,” the spokesperson said.</p>
    <p><em>Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on&nbsp;X,&nbsp;</em><em>Instagram</em><em>,&nbsp;</em><em>Bluesky</em><em>, and&nbsp;</em><em>Google News</em><em>, or subscribe to our&nbsp;</em><em>YouTube</em><em>&nbsp;channel.</em></p>
   </div>
  </div>
 </div>
</div>
<p>Source: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://thebittimes.com/russian-oligarch-evaded-sanctions-in-uk-crypto-firm-share-sell-off-report-tbt74304.html">https://thebittimes.com/russian-oligarch-evaded-sanctions-in-uk-crypto-firm-share-sell-off-report-tbt74304.html</a></p>

Russian oligarch evaded sanctions in UK crypto firm share sell-off, report

Table of Contents

TheBitTimes

Other articles published on Dec 20, 2023

Top 6 Court Rulings That Could Reshape the Crypto Industry in 2024

Top 7 cryptos to pump 15x in 2024

KyberSwap launches treasury grant program for exploit that affected users

Aves Biometric Wallet

AI Models, Even ChatGPT, Fail to Answer Questions from SEC Filings

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis: Close Above 43147 Eluding Bulls – 21 December 2023

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!