FT: Prigozhin secretly used JPMorgan and HSBC banks for payments to the PMC “Wagner”

One of the largest banks in the world — the American JPMorgan Chase and the British HSBC — processed payments for companies in Africa controlled by the late founder of the PMC “Wagner” Evgeniy Prigozhin.

The Financial Times (FT) writes about it.

Media refers to leaked documents obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS).

According to the documents, in 2017 Sudanese mining company Meroe Gold, which was a front for the PMC “Wagner”, sent a payment from a local bank account through JPMorgan Chase as an intermediary bank in New York to an industrial equipment seller in China.

Another account from the same year shows that Meroe Gold sent a payment for diesel generators and spare parts to the Chinese company through Hang Seng Bank, which is part of the HSBC group.

There is no evidence that these banks were aware that they were conducting transactions on behalf of the PMC “Wagner” front persons.

Meroe Gold was not under US sanctions at the time the payments were made, but Prigozhin has been under them since 2016. In 2018, Meroe was sanctioned by the US for being "owned or controlled by Prigozhin" and helping him "exploit Sudanʼs natural resources for personal gain".

HSBC declined to comment on specific transactions in Sudan, but the bank said it was "deeply committed to the fight against financial crime and the integrity of the global financial system."

JPMorgan said that "after reviewing the limited information provided to us, we have not found any records consistent with these transactions."