As reported by the Cheka-OGPU and Rucriminal.info, Sergei Magin, once Russia's number one shadow banker, has been detained in Turkey at Russia's request. In Russia, he is accused of creating Europe's largest money-laundering scheme, the "Laundromat." However, it turns out he laundered the money...from prison.
According to our information, after his release from prison, Sergei Magin lived in Israel. When Russia placed him on the international wanted list in 2023, he moved to Northern Cyprus. Interpol initially declined to issue an international search for Magin. This was due to an appeal to Interpol by his lawyers, who pointed out serious inconsistencies in the criminal case. At the time of all but three days of the indictment, Magin was serving a lengthy sentence in a Russian prison, where he was sentenced for creating an illegal cash-out scheme. Therefore, Russian materials evasively refer to him as the "ideologist" of the "Laundromat." Furthermore, all evidence of Magin's guilt rests solely on the testimony of bankers Kuzmin and Morales-Escomia, who made plea bargains with investigators and named all the bankers implicated in their testimony. Morales-Escomia, however, later wanted to retract his testimony, as the court sentenced him to a whopping 16 years in prison.
In the summer of 2025, the Interpol Files Commission reviewed Magin's case and found no violations justifying withholding documents from Russia. He has since been on the international wanted list.
It is still unclear whether Magin was actually detained in Turkey. Local intelligence agencies (especially at Russian requests) have a practice of arresting individuals in Northern Cyprus but claiming the arrest took place in Turkey.
