Finding stolen oligarch wealth – a lesson from Bellingcat

On 17 July 2014 Malaysian Airlines MH17 was shot down. As noted by the Dutch and Australian governments when announcing legal proceedings on 14 March 2022:

1. Flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian Buk-TELAR surface-to-air missile system;
2. the missile system was transported from Russia to an agricultural field in the east of Ukraine on the morning of 17 July 2014 – an area under the control of Russian-backed separatists;
3. the missile system belonged to the Russian Federation’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Military Brigade, and was accompanied by a trained Russian military crew;
4. from the launch site, the Buk-TELAR fired the missile that shot down Flight MH17, killing all 298 people on board;
5. the missile could only have been fired by the trained Russian crew of the Buk-TELAR, or at least by someone acting under their instruction, direction or control; and
6. the Buk missile system was returned to the Russian Federation shortly after the downing of Flight MH17.

These facts were gathered in part by the efforts of Bellingcat. As noted on their website: “Bellingcat is an independent international collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists using open source and social media investigation to probe a variety of subjects.” This innovative use of a wide range of sources investigated by professionals and volunteer supporters provides an interesting idea for ways of approaching the hidden oligarch wealth that was stolen from the Ukrainian and Russian people and whose owners provide support to the vicious Putin war on Ukraine.

The Financial Times recently highlighted three books that provide in-depth analysis of how the financial industry and its legal, accounting and consulting supporters managed to make the US and the UK “safe havens for dirty money.” These safe havens are now being looked at as the US, UK and European Union look to apply sanctions against oligarchs and their wealth. Of note the US Department of Justice has established a Task Force KleptoCapture as reported in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

At the same time there are increasing stories about oligarchs and their assets outside Russia. These include Alexei Mordashov whose ownership of the travel agency TUI is covered in The Guardian. The Guardian also covers a real estate development in a private housing compound in Surrey where it is estimated that more than 25% of the homes are owned by “Russians and those from former Soviet states.” Direct action is being taken including the capture of a balcony of a mansion in London linked to Oleg Deripaska as noted by the BBC. Similarly many luxury yachts are also being taken into custody in France, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

Much of this wealth has been carefully concealed using legal structures that hide true ownership. Looking behind these structures will require significant effort and expertise and most likely changes in laws and regulations to create transparency for the ownership of partnerships, offshore shell companies, Dutch BVs, North Dakota trusts, Delaware corporations and so forth. Perhaps a Bellingcat is needed to enlist bankers, lawyers, accountants and consultants to help do the research necessary to find the stolen wealth. But who better to find the money than those who helped hide it in the first place. A small price to pay to atone for past sins.