U.S. Sanctions Fintech Firm Linked to Israeli Oligarch Over Russian Evasion
U.S. authorities have sanctioned fintech firm A7, led by Israeli-Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, for funneling billions in bypassed Russian funds and aiding Iranian proxies.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for preparations to establish a "sanction-evasion economy," looking to models developed abroad. Over the four and a half years since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has utilized diverse methods to circumvent Western economic sanctions. According to United States authorities and investigative reports by journalists affiliated with the Russian opposition, a key figure behind these evasion networks is Moldovan-born Israeli oligarch Ilan Shor.
In 2024, Shor established A7, an international fintech and payments firm designed to facilitate cross-border transactions for Russian businesses operating under stringent international sanctions. Shor holds a 51 percent stake in the company, with the remainder held by Promsvyazbank (PSB), a sanctioned Russian state bank. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of the Treasury accused the firm of maintaining ties with Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Cash Network and Sadovod Market
According to an investigation published this week by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), A7 successfully transferred the equivalent of 14 billion dollars out of Russia between November 2024 and July 2025. Operating out of Moscow's Sadovod Market—Russia's largest wholesale and retail complex—intermediaries collect cash from Russian business owners, placing the funds into numbered bags for A7's cash centers.
The cash is counted and registered before being deposited into PSB accounts. Intermediary shell companies registered outside Russia then transfer the funds to foreign recipients, primarily Chinese suppliers, masking the original source in banking records. By late 2024, A7 had processed roughly 2,300 transfer requests originating from the market, primarily routing funds through Kyrgyzstan to China and Hong Kong.
Ties to Iran and the Kremlin
In September 2025, Ilan Shor met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to brief him on the network's operations. Shor reportedly told Putin that the platform had processed over 7.5 trillion rubles across 1,500 to 2,000 daily transactions during its first ten months.
On October 1, the U.S. Treasury designated A7 as a significant transnational criminal organization, citing its use of money laundering techniques to bypass sanctions. U.S. authorities stated the network facilitated transactions for the Central Bank of Iran, the IRGC, groups such as Hamas, and North Korean cybercrime actors.
Shor, 39, fled Moldova following a 2017 conviction for a massive bank fraud dubbed the "theft of the century." Sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison by a Moldovan appeals court in 2023, Shor relocated to Russia, where he became a vocal supporter of President Vladimir Putin and enjoys Kremlin protection.
