Email Blunder Exposes $90 Billion Russian Oil Smuggling Ring

Source: Slashdot

Overview

An IT blunder revealed an apparent smuggling ring that has moved at least $90 bn of Russian oil and is playing a central role in funding the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. The Financial Times identified 48 seemingly independent companies operating from different physical addresses that appear to be working together to disguise the origin of Russian oil, particularly from Kremlin‑controlled Rosneft. The network was discovered because they all share a single private email server.

The FT was able to identify 442 web domains whose public registrations show they all use a single private server for their email, mx.phoenixtrading.ltd, indicating shared back‑office functions. By comparing the names in the domain registrations to entities appearing in Russian and Indian customs records, the FT identified the companies involved in transporting Russian oil.