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Suspending Russia’s Egmont membership only helps criminal underbelly — official

The Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service said the membership suspension was all politics, taken without legal grounds and in gross violation of the mandate, charter and principles of the Egmont group

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. The suspension of Russia's membership in the Egmont group only benefits the criminal underworld, head of the Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service Yury Chikhanchin said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

"Our membership was suspended and we were disconnected from the Egmont network, which means we cannot receive the requested information online. But we are looking for other options, channels. Moreover, at the time of the suspension we were working with more than 50 countries, conducting almost 700 financial investigations and about 230 criminal cases. Therefore, this move, in our opinion, benefits only the criminal underworld," Chikhanchin said.

He also recalled that has also been banned from participating in FATF (an intergovernmental organization that deals with issues of combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism). According to Chikhanchin, opponents are taking steps to completely exclude Russia from the FATF and include the country in the "black lists."

"But we are working together with ministries and agencies. We still get our point across that this is a technical platform, and the Russian Federation meets all standards from the point of view of the national anti-money laundering system," he added.

On October 19, the Egmont group decided to suspend the Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service’s membership in the organization. As stated in Egmont’s official position, the decision was connected with the group losing trust in the Russian agency, mostly due to its position on the Ukrainian conflict and "its chosen methods of communication."

The Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service said the membership suspension was all politics, taken without legal grounds and in gross violation of the mandate, charter and principles of the Egmont group.

At the same time, the Russian agency said that it will continue to cooperate with countries that are really interested in combating economic crime and the financing of terrorism, including through other channels of information exchange.

The Egmont Group unites financial intelligence agencies from 170 countries and provides its members with the opportunity to exchange information via a special secure communication channel. The Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service became a member of the group in June 2002.

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