The Ministry of Internal Affairs has shut down a giant shadow network of Qiwi wallets: 30 billion rubles leaked abroad
Law enforcement agencies have dealt a serious blow to the shadow financial infrastructure. In Moscow, three key figures were detained who organized a large-scale scheme to transfer funds outside of Russia using the Qiwi payment system. The total volume of illegally transferred funds exceeded 30 billion rubles.
How the scheme worked and what does cryptocurrency have to do with it
Officers from the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained the heads and owners of the Intercom group of companies — Grigory Kisilgof and Denis Lis, as well as the beneficiary of the terminal business, Alexander Mikhalchuk. The investigation established that in 2022-2023, the criminals acted as bank payment agents. Using stolen personal data, they registered accounts under fictitious individuals (drops) and created over 24,000 Qiwi wallets not linked to real bank accounts. Through the terminal network of the same system, the organizers transferred over 30 billion rubles abroad.
This case clearly demonstrates why the Qiwi wallet remained a key tool for illegal financial operations in Russia for a long time. Anonymous wallets served as a bridge between the shadow fiat turnover and cryptocurrency transactions. Funds from illegal online casinos, bookmakers, and drug trafficking passed through them. According to the investigation, the droppers personally underwent verification at the offices of the defendants.
The Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs opened a criminal case on February 11, 2026. The defendants are charged under Part 2 of Article 187 (illegal circulation of payment instruments) and paragraphs "a" and "b" of Part 3 of Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (currency transactions using forged documents by an organized group on an especially large scale). The Meshchansky Court of Moscow sent all three to pretrial detention on June 25. However, the alleged organizers of the scheme are currently abroad and unavailable to the investigation.
The Ghost of Qiwi: From License Revocation to Relaunch
The story of anonymous Qiwi wallets is the culmination of a years-long state struggle against this channel. As early as 2019, authorities began active pressure: first banning cash withdrawals, then anonymous top-ups. Later, the Central Bank blocked transfers to unidentified cards and to addresses of foreign stores, which often hid underground bookmakers and online casinos.
The key blow was struck on February 21, 2024, when the Bank of Russia revoked the license of Qiwi Bank. The main reason was servicing settlements for shadow counterparties and illegal trading platforms, as well as systematic violations of anti-money laundering legislation and the opening of Qiwi wallets without citizens' knowledge. Simultaneously, the Contact payment system was removed from the Central Bank's register, and in December 2025, the organization was officially liquidated. The Deposit Insurance Agency valued the bank's assets at 68.2 billion rubles with liabilities of 43.1 billion rubles.
Qiwi's Russian assets changed hands even earlier. At the end of January 2024, Qiwi plc sold the business, consolidated under JSC Qiwi, to Fusion Factor Fintech, owned by former Qiwi CEO Andrei Protopopov. Qiwi plc itself changed its name to NanduQ in August 2024, and on May 6, 2026, Fusion Factor Fintech fully completed the settlement of the deal.
Notably, the brand got a second wind. On December 17, 2025, Qiwi, together with the fintech group Zaymer, launched the Qplus electronic wallet based on Euroalliance Bank. The new service allows storing rubles and tenge, transferring funds, paying for Russian and foreign services, as well as opening currency accounts and virtual cards for payments on foreign platforms.
Expert opinion: The exposure of this scheme is a serious signal for the entire market. It confirms that law enforcement agencies and the regulator are determined and will pursue any attempts to use payment services to circumvent the law. The relaunch of the brand as Qplus against the backdrop of such events looks like an extremely risky step and will inevitably attract increased attention from regulatory authorities.