Accused money launderers left a path of bankrupt factories
This is not an isolated case in the post-soviet space. The general pattern is - squeeze lots of money domestically via your privileged position of operating whole key sectors of the national economy and spend them comfortably abroad. Everything from banks through insurance companies through delivery companies to media groups is owned by people formerly involved with state security. It's an exclusive social network in which political decisions and private economic interests are tightly coordinated.The worrying thing is that the West gave international legitimacy to these wealthy elites, while only pointing fingers at the endemic corruption in their countries.