Russian Man on U.K.’s Most Wanted List Holds Maltese ‘Golden Passport’

The report details UK NCA charges against Alexander Kuksov—now on the agency’s “most wanted” list—for allegedly laundering multi-millions for a global criminal network, while noting his Maltese citizenship obtained via the now-eliminated “golden passport” program. It recounts that his brother, Semen, previously pleaded guilty in the UK to laundering over $15 million, was stripped of Maltese citizenship, and that both brothers and their father received Maltese passports in 2022. Citing NCA’s Operation Destabilise, the piece describes a Moscow- and Dubai-based ring that moved billions in cash and crypto for crimes including Russian ransomware, with dozens arrested and some sanctioned, while Maltese authorities did not comment on potential passport revocations for Alexander.