The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) has announced the completion of a key phase of an international operation to disrupt the largest financial fraud scheme in recent years, which evaded sanctions and allowed Russian entities access to foreign accounts.
Dubbed "Destabilise," the operation lasted over two years and involved law enforcement agencies from the US, France, Spain, Ireland, and several other countries.
During the second phase of the operation, an additional 45 suspects were arrested, and joint efforts with international partners resulted in the seizure of $24 million and €2.6 million. A total of 128 people were arrested as part of "Destabilise," and over £25 million in cash and cryptocurrency was seized in the UK.
Specifically, the NCA uncovered two networks as part of "Destabilise" – TGR and Smart.
Smart and TGR collaborated to launder funds for transnational criminal groups involved in cybercrime, drugs, and arms smuggling.
Smart was managed by Ekaterina Zhdanova, who worked closely with Hadji-Murat Magomedov and Nikita Krasnov. In the summer of 2023, individuals associated with Russian intelligence attempted to use Smart Group to finance agents based in the UK and Europe. Among them was a group of UK-based Bulgarian citizens, led by Orlin Russev, who were subsequently convicted of spying across Europe on behalf of Russia.
TGR is headed by George Rossi, his deputy Elena Chirkinyan, and Andrey Bradens (also known as Andrey Karenoks).
The Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info reported in detail on Ekaterina Zhdanova and Hadji-Murat Magomedov in July 2025 on their Telegram channel, which was later deleted. One of the organizers of this scheme, Khadzhi-Murat Magomedov, along with his partners from Gorbushka, Timur Mamaikhanov and Mayerbek Nesiev, took on any "topic" at the very beginning of their career. For example, one of their first deals was selling watches.
But their real money came with the arrival of Ekaterina Zhdanova (currently under arrest in France), a close friend of many celebrities, into Khadzhi-Murat Magomedov's life. In 2021, a record was made in the Unified State Register of Real Estate (USRN) of the businesswoman's name change—she became Magomedova. As the Cheka-OGPU discovered, she had previously been married to the famous "biohacker" Kirill Masliev.
But most importantly, Ekaterina is a close friend of actress Alla Mikheeva, godmother of TV presenter and singer (Blestyashchie) Olga Orlova, and is acquainted with many other celebrities.
According to friends, Zhdanova-Magomedova was involved in the tourism business (organizing VIP tours to the Maldives), visa processing (processing permits for Comedy actors), and so on.
However, her real opportunity to expand came when she pooled resources with Hadji-Murat Magomedov. The combination of the resources of the Gorbushka residents and Ekaterina's celebrity clientele gave birth to the companies Smart and TGR Group, which were involved in money laundering (Zhdanova's manager was arrested by European intelligence agencies, her husband went into hiding and was sanctioned) and was later destroyed by US and European security forces. And the UAE real estate agency MIRA, which was reported on by journalists, was also involved.
As the Cheka-OGPU has discovered, active participants in the latest "laundromat," in addition to clients under sanctions, criminals, and Chechen leadership, may have served the financial interests of famous Russian UFC fighters Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. Some users have accordingly recorded Magomedov's phone number.
Timur Mamaikhanov, whom journalists describe as a key link in the scheme to launder dirty money from Moscow to clean real estate in the UAE, worked with Khadzhi-Murat Magomedov in the sale of famous-brand watches. And, according to customs databases, he was responsible for smuggling chronometers.
According to our information, he was caught on December 27, 2014, attempting to smuggle jewelry and watches worth over 100 million rubles across the border.
Khadzhi-Murat Magomedov resides in Dubai. One of Magomedov's contact numbers is used to register an account under the name of a Kyrgyz bank popular with Russians and with branches in the UAE. As for Mamaikhanov, he may still be in Russia and operating an underground crypto network. His luxury crossover, manufactured by the Chinese company Li Xiang, appears in leaked customer records of Moscow auto repair shops.
A third partner, Mayerbek Nesiev from Grozny, who was responsible for relations with the Chechen Republic, may be in Northern Cyprus. According to leaked border databases, he left Russia in September 2022, flying to Turkey. Several months ago, he was selling a dishwasher for 200 euros in a local chat.
