Revealed: how Cypriot firm helped the ‘Orthodox oligarch’ after he was placed under sanctions

theguardian.com:

An oligarch accused of financing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine appeared to continue moving millions of dollars through the global banking system with the help of a Cypriot financial services firm after he was placed under sanctions by western governments, the Guardian can reveal.

Konstantin Malofeyev, a banker whose business interests include the Kremlin-supporting Tsargrad media group, has been described by the US authorities as “one of the main sources of financing” for the promotion of Russian interests in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

Known as the “Orthodox oligarch” because of his support for the Russian church, Malofeyev has described the current attack on Ukraine as a “holy war”. He was among the most high-profile individuals hit by sanctions after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, with the EU placing him under restrictions in July 2014 and the US in December of that year.

However, material seen by the Guardian and its reporting partner, the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, suggests that over the following three years he remained a client of the Cypriot accounting and offshore services firm MeritServus, whose officers appeared to help companies linked to Malofeyev move money and issue loans, including in US dollars.

MeritServus was last week placed under sanctions by the UK government after separate revelations from the Guardian about its role in moving funds for the former Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich.

The information, which has emerged from a cache of leaked documents known as the Oligarch files, will raise fresh concerns about financial controls in Cyprus, an EU member state which has for years facilitated the movement of Russian capital into Europe and beyond.

The firm