Investigation: A7 Processed 283 Tonnes of Cash Rubles Worth More Than $14 Billion

Key Facts

A7 processed at least 283 tonnes of cash rubles, worth more than $14 billion, between November 2024 and July 2025, according to a joint investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and Proekt. The figures reveal the scale of financial flows that, to a large extent, did not pass through traditional bank transfers from clients inside Russia. The investigation was based on leaked internal documents, including a cash deposit ledger and a promissory note ledger. It described the source of most A7 flows as "untraceable." The findings come as the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the A7 network and accused it of facilitating illicit activity.

Leaked records show wide variation in the volume of cash flowing to PSB Bank through A7 during months in 2025. The amount was about 195 billion rubles, equivalent to $2.3 billion, in April, before rising to 250 billion rubles, or $3.1 billion, in June. At its peak, processing reached at least 58 tonnes of cash a month, the investigation said. These flows show that cash rubles were a core component of the company's operations during the period covered by the documents. The investigation cited internal records and people familiar with the matter as saying that a large share of A7 payments did not originate from traditional bank transfers by local clients, but from "hundreds of tonnes of cash rubles."

In describing the routes taken by the money, the ICIJ investigation said intermediaries in markets converted importers' cash into traditional bank transfers or cryptocurrencies, with the funds often going to China. This mechanism describes a possible route for trade settlement, but does not prove that A7's cash processing was specifically designed to make the funds acceptable to Chinese banks. On October 1, 2026, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the A7 network and designated it a significant transnational criminal organization. It described it as a "parallel banking network with ties to Russia" that, it said, Iran's regime had used to evade sanctions. It also accused agents of using companies, forged trade documents and misleading descriptions of goods to make prohibited or illicit payments appear to be ordinary commercial activity.

The U.S. Treasury provided broader figures for the network's activity, separate from the period covered by the journalists' investigation. According to the department, A7 subagents processed more than $17 billion between January 2025 and June 2026. It also said the network claimed to have processed more than 2,000 transactions a day, totaling more than 7.5 trillion rubles, or $91.5 billion, through January 2026. A FinCEN assessment said hundreds of subagents held accounts at about 435 financial institutions in at least 83 countries as of June 2026. The assessment concluded that the agent network facilitated transactions for sanctioned Russian persons, supported Russian military operations in Africa, enabled Iranian sanctions evasion and helped at least one company procure goods for Iranian weapons programs.

FinCEN said more than 180 entities processed transactions linked to the A7A5 currency worth at least $179.1 billion between February 2025 and June 2026. These figures concern currency transactions tracked by the agency and do not represent an independent estimate of the amount of cash rubles documented by the ICIJ investigation. A7 publicly rejected the U.S. allegations, saying it uses a "modern, multilayered compliance system" and was established to ensure settlement continued in the Russian market. The investigation did not report a response establishing the specific purpose of the cash processing or linking all incoming funds to a single destination. Alongside the sanctions, FinCEN proposed a rule to prohibit certain money transfers linked to agents in A7's subagent network, in a move the Treasury said targeted money-laundering and illicit-finance risks.

The U.S. and British measures reflect mounting scrutiny of settlement channels operating through intermediaries and accounts spread across multiple jurisdictions. The National Crime Agency and the British government issued the first national private-sector alert focused on A7, aiming to curb sanctions evasion through financial structures spanning multiple jurisdictions. In the Russian economy, the manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 49.9 points in October from 49.8 in September, according to Reuters, remaining below the 50 threshold separating growth from contraction. Reuters described the sector as broadly stable, with the pace of declines in output, new orders and employment easing. Official Rosstat data also showed an unemployment rate of 2.2% in August 2026 under the International Labour Organization methodology.