Sanctioned Wagner mastermind escaped UK money laundering controls by showing his 81-year-old mother’s gas bill

The leader of the feared Russian mercenary group, Wagner, managed to pass British money laundering controls by showing his elderly mother’s gas bill.

Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin was under US, EU and US sanctions in 2021 when British law firm Discreet Law asked him for identification documents as part of money laundering checks before accepting him as a client.

Prigozhin’s Russian lawyers responded by sending the London law firm a photo of his passport along with a gas bill to the mercenary’s then 81-year-old mother, Violetta Prigozhina. The invoice was for an address in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The Russian lawyers wrote in an email: “The invoice is in the name of the plaintiff’s mother, who actually lives at the client’s residence and pays the invoice.”

A discreet legal counsel replied: “We’re happy with that [anti-money laundering] Documents.’

Prigozhina, now 83, was sanctioned by the EU last year for supporting her son’s activities in the Wagner Group.

Prigozhin, a millionaire with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has about 50,000 fighters in Ukraine, 40,000 of whom are prisoners and 10,000 of whom are contractors, according to British and US intelligence agencies.

Dubbed “Putin’s chef”, Prigozhin, who once provided catering services for the Kremlin, ordered Discreet Law in 2021 to bring a defamation suit in London against Eliot Higgins, founder of investigative news outlet Bellingcat, over tweets he published has about the Wagner group .

The court case was dropped by the High Court in London in May last year – two months before Discreet Law suspended its services to Prigozhin.

Margaret Hodge, a Labor MP, said the British law firm’s acceptance of a gas bill on behalf of Prigozhin’s mother showed the urgent need for reform in the UK.

“It is ridiculous that a Russian warlord could have avoided any suspicion of money laundering simply by using his elderly mother’s gas account,” she told the FT.

“Our bankers, accountants and lawyers all have a duty to do due diligence on their clients,” said Hodge.

Dubbed “Putin’s chef”, Prigozhin, who once provided catering services for the Kremlin, ordered Discreet Law in 2021 to bring a defamation suit in London against Eliot Higgins, founder of investigative news outlet Bellingcat, over tweets he published has about the Wagner group. .

Prigozhin, nicknamed “Putin’s chef” (pictured together) after he once provided catering services for the Kremlin, instructed Discreet Law in 2021 to file a defamation suit against Eliot Higgins in London.

The court case was stopped by the High Court in London in May last year – two months before, Discreet Law suspended its services to Prigozhin.

Roger Gherson, founder of Discreet Law, said his law firm “cannot comment on confidential communications with its former clients.”

“Discreet Law’s position is that by following directions and conducting due diligence, they fully complied with their legal and professional obligations at all times,” Gherson said.

It comes after Prigozhin on Tuesday accused Russia’s defense minister and chief of staff of starving its fighters in Ukraine of ammunition, which he said amounted to an attempt to “destroy” the force.

Prigozhin raised his voice that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov were instructing “left and right” not to supply Wagner with ammunition and/or airlift. The company was involved in heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.

It “can be compared to treason when Wagner fights for Bakhmut and loses hundreds of his fighters every day,” Prigozhin said.

The millionaire Prigozhin and his fighters have been accused for weeks that the army is not providing them with enough ammunition. Wagner’s attempt to take over Bakhmut, a town in the partially occupied eastern Donetsk region, has stalled and turned into an uphill battle.

Prigozhin has also repeatedly accused Russia’s top military of incompetence in recent months. He increased his public profile by daily boasting of Wagner’s supposed victories and mocking his opponents.

However, his criticism seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Last month, Putin reaffirmed his confidence in Gerasimov by placing him in direct command of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, a move that some observers also interpreted as an attempt to eclipse Prigozhin.

On Tuesday, in his much-anticipated state of the nation address, Putin expressly thanked his military but made no mention of Wagner.