Drug mafia, crypto, and Russian bankers: Zurich prosecutors uncover international money-laundering operation Swiss Remit

The Zurich Prosecutor’s Office has established that over 46 million Swiss francs received from the Nigerian drug mafia were laundered through the Swiss Remit payment system. According to journalists, at least €120 million in dirty money from Russia passed through the same structure.

As follows from court documents, Swiss Remit had several offices in Switzerland, including in Geneva. Their distinctive feature was two entrances: a main one for ordinary clients and a separate one for “special” clients. It was through this entrance, according to the investigation, that drug traffickers handed over cash.

The scheme involved Nigerian drug lord Amadi Simon, who lived in Switzerland with his wife. His wife worked in one of Swiss Remit’s offices. The proceeds from cocaine sales were transferred via the payment system to Nigeria and other African countries, where Simon invested in luxury hotels, nightclubs, and commercial real estate.

Law enforcement reached Swiss Remit after investigating cocaine distributors. The operation involved the DEA, Europol, and Swiss law enforcement agencies. Simon and his wife’s phones were wiretapped, and hidden cameras were installed in the payment system’s offices.

During the operation, Simon and his wife were detained, along with Petro Shcherbyna and Russian citizen Sergey Salpanov, who were present in Swiss Remit’s offices. The latter was listed as the company’s main official owner. Previously, Salpanov served on the board of the Russian payment system “Anelik RU,” which was sanctioned by Ukraine in 2016 and liquidated in 2019.

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However, the story of Swiss Remit’s owners turned out to be much more complicated. A document emerged showing that from March 2022 to December 2025 a beneficial ownership agreement was in effect: Salpanov pledged the company’s shares as collateral for a large loan, with Nataliya Semchenkova — wife of Russian banker German Gorbuntsov — listed as the owner of the shares. Thus, until January 2026, Gorbuntsov may have had a connection to actual control over Swiss Remit.

Swiss Remit’s head office was also located in premises belonging to Fonteluna SA. Its ultimate beneficiary is Shamil Idrisov, former co-owner and chairman of the board of directors of the Volga Interconnected Bank, as well as former deputy head of the government of Ulyanovsk Oblast. The lease of a villa in Switzerland where Salpanov lived was also registered to Idrisov.

Idrisov had previously been involved in a criminal case related to embezzlement during the construction of the Federal High-Tech Center of Medical Radiology in Dimitrovgrad. After that, he moved to Switzerland.

According to journalists, the Russian part of the scheme was linked to Swiss Remit’s representative office in Moscow City. There, it is claimed, cash was accepted, converted into cryptocurrency, and then credited to clients’ accounts in Switzerland and other European countries. The payment system also had representative offices in other countries — official ones, for example in Greece, and unofficial ones, such as in Spain. The Spanish direction was managed by Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Moshuk.

Swiss Remit also closely cooperated with top managers of a Swiss asset management company with Latvian “roots.”

The investigation is ongoing. Swiss law enforcement has already established the probable volume of funds that passed through the scheme in the interests of the Nigerian drug mafia, but the Russian direction of Swiss Remit may turn out to be significantly larger — at least €120 million is mentioned.