Medvedev Russian Money Laundering Case, The Bullion Dealer in Changi, and the Evolving Role of Gold
In April 2024, Feliks Medvedev, a Russian citizen residing in the U.S. State of Georgia, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money‑transmitting business that moved over US$150 million across more than 1,300 transactions.
Much of this money, originating from Russian sources, entered U.S.-based JPMorgan Chase bank accounts tied to eight shell companies Medvedev registered in Georgia.
Court documents1 revealed that Medvedev transferred millions of dollars overseas from multiple bank accounts in the United States under the instructions of Russian nationals from the KSK Group, a Russian company.
Medvedev was also directed to transmit approximately US$65 million from the aforementioned bank accounts to purchase gold for storage in Singapore. Court documents state that this was done in two ways – first, money was transferred directly to a Singapore bullion dealer, Singapore Precious Metals Exchange (SGPMX), located in the Le Freeport facility. Second, money was transferred to the Scottsdale Mint in Arizona, which then transferred money to SGPMX.
Regardless, court documents showed that the illicit funds were transferred from bank accounts with U.S. financial institutions (JPMorgan Chase, Truist and BOK) to Singapore banks (UOB and DBS).
Once the gold was purchased and credited to Medvedev’s trading account, Medvedev and his co-conspirators then transferred the bullion from the SGPMX to safe deposit boxes rented from Auruma Global Limited, a company that offered safe deposit box services for SGPMX clients.
For breaching AML/CFT requirements under Singapore’s Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Preventing of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act 2019 (PSPM Act), both SGPMX and its CEO, Victor Foo, were fined S$210,000 each by the Ministry of Law.2
Is the Real Breach JPMorgan’s Lax Oversight in This Case?
According to the U.S. indictment, the laundered money first entered the financial system through JPMorgan Chase, one of the world’s largest banks.
If accurate, this would indicate that lapses in due diligence may have occurred within the regulated banking sector before the funds reached the gold trade.
Separate from the Medvedev case, JPMorgan Chase has a history of regulatory infractions and has been fined billions of dollars for compliance failures, including in cases involving market manipulation and lax Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls.
Based on data from Violation Tracker3, which aggregates reports from United States federal agencies, JP Morgan has been fined $40,164,932,209 USD in the United States alone since 2000. This averages out to about 4.4 million USD in fines per day.
In the Feliks Medvedev money laundering case, U.S. court documents showed that illicit funds were transferred from bank accounts with U.S. FIs to Singapore banks.
Before any gold was purchased in the Medvedev case, two sets of critical gatekeepers in the banking system had already failed. These lapses allowed illicit money to enter the legitimate financial system long before it reached the gold trade, highlighting systemic weaknesses in frontline AML enforcement by large Financial Institutions.
The Singapore Straits Times' “Russian Bought $88m of Gold from Dealer in Changi to Launder Funds for Ukraine Invasion” Article
The Straits Times covered the Medvedev case with a widely publicised story "Russian bought $88m of gold from dealer in Changi to launder funds for Ukraine invasion," largely ignoring the prior banking compliance issues and using a generically titled “dealer in Changi,”4 despite SGPMX being named explicitly in public indictments and filings.
The consequence is that it is gold and all gold dealers and secure logistics companies based in Changi, including those with no connection to the case, are tainted by association, especially for headline-only readers.
This became starkly evident at a recent Singapore Institute of Architects award ceremony, where The Reserve vault won architectural design awards. In a brief conversation between Silver Bullion’s CEO, Gregor Gregersen, and a very senior Singapore government officer, upon learning that The Reserve is one of the world's highest capacity vaults and is located in the Changi area, the officer’s first response was a remark about money laundering. This reaction, although likely unintentional, highlights the reputational spillover resulting from vague media references, such as “a dealer in Changi,” in the Medvedev case.
Changi is a logistics and wealth hub, home to legitimate, audited, and well-regulated secure logistics and bullion businesses. Imprecise language, such as “dealer in Changi,” harms the credibility of these businesses, confuses the public, and detracts from the necessary scrutiny of the actual actors involved.
While gold, as a hard asset, is used to store or transfer value, it is far less frequently used as a primary laundering vehicle compared to bank accounts, fiat currencies, real estate, cryptocurrencies, or luxury cars. Despite this, gold continues to be disproportionately singled out by journalists as a quintessential money laundering tool, creating, in our view, a self-reinforcing narrative that overlooks the broader realities of how money laundering actually occurs.
Perhaps it’s time for the financial industry and media to re-examine why they instinctively point to gold and confront the systemic vulnerabilities within the very financial institutions that move billions of dollars daily with far less scrutiny.
As the World Order Changes, Gold’s Role as the World’s Primary Apolitical Store of Value Resurges
As of 2025, central banks worldwide now hold more physical gold reserves than Euro currency reserves by value. While the United States dollar is still the primary central bank reserve asset (gold is second), the increasing shift towards gold reflects the growing desire for politically neutral, sanction-resistant stores of value.
Unlike fiat currencies, which can be printed at will, gold has stood the test of time as a neutral store of value. It carries no counterparty risk and cannot be frozen or devalued by foreign governments, making it a strategic asset in a world of rising geopolitical tensions and shifting economic alliances.
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, once said, “If you don’t own gold, you know neither history nor economics.” His words underscore a more profound truth that often gets lost in the noise, especially when gold is scapegoated in money laundering narratives.
The persistent perception that gold is being used primarily by money launderers is not just naïve but is an increasingly costly misconception, given gold’s growing geopolitical importance and its importance as a personal safe haven and crisis hedge.
With central banks quietly accumulating gold and diversifying away from traditional reserve currencies, perhaps it’s time the public, and especially the financial community, relearns the fundamentals of how reserve currencies evolve and how they eventually fail.
Gold isn’t the problem; it’s a solution for our times.
Misjudging it not only clouds our understanding of financial crime but also blinds us to what history has consistently shown: in uncertain times and rising global debt, gold isn’t a threat, it’s a lifeline.
References:
2 https://acd.mlaw.gov.sg/news/enforcement/mlaw-imposes-composition-sum-on-spme-and-its-ceo/
3 https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/jpmorgan-chase (see data sources)