Reports have surfaced that JPMorgan Chase and HSBC inadvertently processed payments for companies associated with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former leader of the Wagner Group.
Prigozhin, who played a key role in the Wagner Group’s extensive operations in Africa, died in August under unclear circumstances when his private jet crashed near Moscow. According to msn.com, the Wagner Group has been active across Africa, providing military and paramilitary services to various regimes in exchange for significant financial compensation. This allowed the group to generate substantial revenue from the continent, primarily through deals in the mining and raw materials sectors.
Documents obtained by the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies (C4ADS), a Washington-based research organisation, revealed that transactions connected to Wagner’s operations passed through major banks, including JPMorgan and HSBC.
The Financial Times reported that, in 2017, a Sudanese company tied to Wagner made purchases of industrial equipment from China, with payments passing through large Western banks before the company was placed under sanctions. Prigozhin himself had been sanctioned by the United States a year earlier, in 2016.
Documents highlighted by the Financial Times show that Meroe Gold used a Sudanese bank to transfer funds through JPMorgan Chase to a Chinese supplier. Another payment, facilitated by Hang Seng Bank, a subsidiary of HSBC, helped Meroe Gold purchase diesel generators and spare parts. It’s worth noting that there is no evidence suggesting the banks were aware these transactions were linked to Prigozhin or Wagner-affiliated companies.
Although Meroe Gold was not under sanctions at the time of these transactions, the US sanctioned the company in 2018 for its role in exploiting Sudan’s natural resources on behalf of Prigozhin. Both JPMorgan Chase and HSBC have since responded to these revelations, with JPMorgan indicating that it found no records of the transactions in question and HSBC emphasising its commitment to fighting financial crime.
C4ADS noted that Wagner’s financial dealings illustrate how the organisation blurred the boundaries between legal and illegal activity. The group leveraged global financial networks to support its operations and expand its reach, often relying on international banks to move money and facilitate transactions.
Since Prigozhin's death, Wagner’s African operations have reportedly been integrated into Russian government-controlled entities, with many of its leaders joining Russia’s Armed Forces. These leaders are credited with bringing new tactics to Russia’s ongoing military activities in Ukraine.
The ability to make payments to Russian-linked entities has been further constrained by US sanctions targeting Russian banking operations. A December 2022 executive order from President Joe Biden introduced stricter sanctions, which have made third-party transactions more difficult for Russian companies.
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