Renting savings accounts: this would be the operation led by Russian citizens to enter money into Colombia and affect the elections

National and international authorities are on the trail of a network led by citizens of Russian origin, which would be renting savings accounts from lowly and middle-class people to bring large amounts of money into Colombia.

This was announced by an investigation by RCN News, which indicated that a man from Kazakhstan, whom they call 'Shurik', is the one who would be behind this group's operations in the country. Apparently, the sums of cash are recorded from Russian territory in amounts of around 5, 11 and 15 million pesos and, subsequently, the silver is withdrawn at various ATMs in Bogotá.

Through telephone interceptions, it has been possible to verify that 'Shurik', who entered the country on a tourist visa, contacts Colombian citizens and explains to them the benefits they would obtain if they lend their bank accounts, such as commissions. In addition, this subject is in charge of coordinating each of the international shipments.

“Hello Gonzalo, look, for example, we are now working with his account, but when we finish working with him, we are going to be lent to other people who are going to lend their profile, and each person when they are inside, will get commission,” explains' Shurik 'to one of the victims in a dialogue published by the aforementioned media outlet.

Authorities' reports argue that these procedures would be part of a transnational money-laundering and espionage operation, the objective of which would be “to finance groups that intend to destabilize public order and interfere on the next election day.”

The foreign network would have two points of action: one in Bogotá and the other in Medellin. Likewise, the investigation by Noticias RCN was able to establish that the European citizen has all the documentation of the Russian Embassy, which allows him to move freely through Colombia since he has no criminal record.

The Financial Information and Analysis Unit (UIAF) tracked money movements since 2018, which would indicate that more than 146 million dollars had been laundered to date. Another section of the report indicates that all cash would be converted into cryptocurrencies, through ATMs, in order to evade Russian taxes.

The former defense minister, Camilo Ospina, assured in recent hours that the actions of these foreign groups are aimed at interfering with politics. “What they are doing is basically looking for interference in the political issue and seeing how they can intervene, what they can do. What we have with intelligence information is that they are trying to see how they incorporate resources and whether they can ever intervene in the process,” he said in a later interview with RCN.

Likewise, the former official indicated that part of the resources sought to finance the action of the so-called 'first line' during the days of demonstrations in the country: “They are financing the Frontline, that is, and it proves that what happened last year was funded by them. It must be borne in mind that the resources that were arriving were related to the Russians.”

A recent investigation by the newspaper El Tiempo also revealed that money sent from Russia had been injected into the country to finance several of the protests recorded in November 2019. It should be noted that these demonstrations are remembered for the murder of young Dilan Cruz by an agent of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squadron (Esmad).

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