A vehicle stop in Twickenham led to the unraveling of a sophisticated international money laundering network that exploited the Russia-Ukraine war to clean over £6 million in criminal cash.

Met Police officers stopped a car in Twickenham, discovering over £60,000 in cash inside on 28 June 2023.

Valeriy Popovych, 52, who was in the vehicle, was arrested at the scene.

The arrest sparked a wide-ranging investigation by the Met's Economic Crime Unit, which has now led to two men being jailed for a combined 13 years following a five-week trial at Wood Green Crown Court.

Popovych, of The Avenue, Sunbury-on-Thames, and Vitaliy Lutsak, 43, of Cheshunt, were both found guilty of transferring criminal property and running an unregistered money service business.

They were sentenced on Monday, 7 April to six years and six months each.

Valeriy's wife, Oksana Popovych, 42, who was also involved in the scheme, is due to be sentenced on 30 May.

The Met Police seized £190,000 in cash from Valeriy Popovych (credit: Met Police).

The group used Valeriy's export business, Sprint Commercial Ltd, to buy second-hand vans and lorries in the UK with criminal cash and sell them in Ukraine—capitalising on the war-driven demand for vehicles.

The proceeds were then converted into cryptocurrency, funnelling illicit funds through unregulated digital exchanges.

Following Popovych's arrest in Twickenham, officers searched his Feltham home and recovered an additional £130,000 in cash, along with laptops and mobile phones that revealed a network of transactions, messages, and cryptocurrency wallets.

The investigation also connected the group to a Russian national, Semen Kuksov, who was jailed earlier this year under the National Crime Agency's Operation Destabilise.

Detective Constable Harry Davies, who led the case, said: "Mr Popovych callously saw the conflict in Ukraine as a lucrative business opportunity.

"This sentencing shows how seriously we take organised crime and the harm it causes."

The Met worked closely with HMRC, the NCA, and the Financial Conduct Authority during the probe.

Officers identified a crucial spreadsheet titled 'V Enf Acc' that showed over £6 million laundered between August 2022 and June 2023.

The Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed it will pursue confiscation proceedings to recover the gang's criminal profits—including a second property in southwest London purchased with laundered money.

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