Israeli Citizen Accused of Helping Russia Evade Billions in Sanctions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for preparations for a "sanctions-evading economy" on Friday, as reports emerge of a Moldovan oligarch with Israeli citizenship, Ilan Shor, playing a key role in helping Russia circumvent Western sanctions. Shor, who established the international financial technology company A7 in 2024, aims to facilitate cross-border payments for Russian businesses under strict international sanctions. Shor owns 51% of A7, with the remaining stake held by Russia's PSB Bank, which is also under sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury Department accused A7 in early October of having ties to Iran and its Revolutionary Guard Corps. U.S. authorities allege that A7 operates a financial network using shell companies in various countries that present payments from Russian entities as legitimate transactions through falsified trade documents. An investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed that Shor's company facilitated the transfer of approximately $14 billion out of Russia between November 2024 and July 2025.

According to the ICIJ report, A7 operates from Moscow's Sadovod Market, Russia's largest wholesale and retail complex. Merchants there receive instructions from Russian businesses to help them transfer payments to other countries for purchased goods, with some transactions bypassing sanctions. The process involves intermediaries placing cash in numbered bags, which are then sent to A7's cash center for counting and recording before being transferred to PSB Bank and deposited into A7's accounts. Subsequently, intermediary companies outside Russia transfer the funds to foreign recipients, primarily Chinese suppliers, obscuring the original source of the money in Chinese bank records.

By the end of 2024, A7 reportedly received about 2,300 requests for money transfers from companies operating at the Sadovod Market, with most intended for transfer via trading companies in Kyrgyzstan to firms in China and Hong Kong. In December, A7 boasted of completing a money transfer to China in just 40 minutes. A Ukrainian media report from September 2025 stated that Shor met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to brief him on the network's operations, claiming the platform processed over 7.5 trillion rubles in ten months and planned to establish a financial center in Asia.

On October 1, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned A7, labeling it a "significant transnational criminal organization" that uses money laundering techniques to illegally move vast sums of money, violating sanctions and other laws. U.S. authorities stated the network served Iran's central bank, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, and cybercrime organizations. The Treasury noted A7's connection to Nobitex, Iran's largest digital asset exchange, and its facilitation of transactions related to North Korean cyber heists.

Ilan Shor, 39, born in Israel to Moldovan immigrant parents, began his business career with his father in Moldova's duty-free shops before inheriting and expanding the business. He entered Moldovan politics, founded the banned populist "Shor Party," and was convicted in 2017 for money laundering and embezzlement of $1 billion from three Moldovan banks, subsequently fleeing to Israel. A Moldovan appeals court later increased his sentence to 15 years. Shor relocated his operations to Russia, expressing strong support for Putin's policies, and frequently appears on Kremlin propaganda channels, operating under Putin's protection despite being a fugitive wanted by Moldova.