The U.S. Treasury Department announced on October 1 "unprecedented" action against Russia's A7 payments network, striking three blows at once: the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the A7 Network a "significant transnational criminal organization," prohibiting any transactions with it and its sub-agents; the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed a rule banning transfers of funds involving the network's sub-agents; and FinCEN issued banks a special alert with red-flag indicators for spotting suspicious A7-linked transactions. The public comment period runs 30 days.
The crackdown falls under Operation Economic Outcast, launched at President Trump's direction in late August and billed as an "economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe." "Today's action targeting A7 continues Treasury's unprecedented efforts to isolate Iran and its financial enablers and sends a clear message that if you facilitate illicit finance for America's adversaries, you will lose access to the U.S. financial system," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
A7 was set up in 2024 by PSB (Promsvyazbank), the defense-sector-focused Russian bank, and has become the leader in Russia's cross-border payments market — dealing in cryptocurrency (the ruble-backed A7A5 token), gold and non-Western currencies, with trading partners including China and India. A7 itself says that as of January 2026 it was processing more than 2,000 transactions a day worth a combined 7.5 trillion rubles (about $90 billion) — roughly 13% of Russia's 2025 foreign trade. It is run by fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, who resides in Russia.
Treasury says A7 built a web of sub-agents in third countries that use falsified trade documents, import-export records and misleading goods descriptions to disguise restricted payments as ordinary commercial activity. Network staff control the sub-agents' websites and bank accounts, using custom-built virtual private networks to conceal their locations. FinCEN traced more than $17 billion flowing through the sub-agents between January 2025 and June 2026.
Washington accuses the network of serving Iran's central bank, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tehran-backed groups including Hamas, and cybercriminals. One subagent received nearly $140 million from entities involved in Iranian sanctions evasion and transacted with entities tied to Iran's oil-shipping "shadow fleet"; another transferred about $1.6 million to a company linked to weapons procurement for Iran. Treasury also tied the network to the Iranian exchange Nobitex and North Korean crypto theft.
A7 issued a statement Friday rejecting it all: "A7 categorically rejects any allegations that it has worked with Iran or terrorist organisations." The company said it provides "uninterrupted payment settlements for the Russian market, which has been subjected to unlawful restrictive measures," servicing "legitimate import and export operations involving consumer goods and commodities." That defense, versus $17 billion in traced flows, will be tested in court.
The same week, Vladimir Putin said Russia won't supply diesel to global markets until sanctions are lifted. Ukraine, meanwhile, is pushing a "wish list" for new Russia sanctions under Senator Graham's bill. The A7 case is one move on a larger board: Washington is trying to sever the "shadow finance pipeline" between Russia and Iran, while Moscow's leverage is the diesel Europe needs for winter.