Fake banknotes resembling Monopoly money are being used to move rubles over borders as part of an effort to circumvent Western sanctions on the Russian Federation, according to new reporting by the Financial Times. 

The notes are issued by A7, a Kremlin-linked business launched in late 2024 by state-owned defense-sector bank Promsvyazbank and Ilan Șor, a Moldovan oligarch who fled Moldova after being convicted in 2017 over his role in a $1-billion bank theft, the newspaper said. 

A7 has rapidly emerged as a significant means for Moscow to keep trade payments moving after major Russian financial institutions were suspended from the SWIFT interbank messaging system, the FT said. 

Printed to look like colorful banknotes featuring images of Russian cities, the imitation bills work much like bearer shares and can have a face value of up to $5,000, according to the report. A7 is advertising the notes on Telegram as a service for Russian tourists and holders can them them for real rubles at A7 offices in Russia or for foreign currency abroad, according to the FT. 

In the latter case, holders must scrape off a silver film on the bills to find a QR code that alerts a Telegram bot that the holder is seeking to redeem value for foreign currency. According to promotional materials cited by the FT, an A7 agent is then supposed to meet the redeemer in person to hand over the requested cash. 

The Telegram bot currently offers such drop-offs in UAE dirhams in Dubai and dollars in Istanbul, according to the report. The notes can separately be redeemed for A7A5, a stablecoin created by A7 and Promsvyazbank last year, the FT said. 

Elliptic estimates that some 2,300 of the notes have been redeemed for the ruble-pegged stablecoin to date, with a total value of $8.6 million, the newspaper said. 

Read more at the Financial Times