Reuters. Russian central banker slams vast criminal cash exports

Russia's central bank chief said nearly $50 billion, or 2.5 percent of the national income, had been sent abroad illegally in 2012, much of it controlled by a single group of people - whom he did not identify.

Wednesday's findings by the Bank of Russia, one of the country's most respected institutions, amounted to an indictment of lawlessness and corruption in the system of "Kremlin capitalism" that has taken hold under President Vladimir Putin.

They also sent a parting shot from the soft-spoken Sergei Ignatyev, who retires as chairman in June after 11 years largely free of controversy. A successor has yet to be named.

Asked by a reporter before his testimony to identify the "well-organized group" he mentioned in the interview was making half the illegal transfers abroad, Ignatyev declined comment and left the upper house without speaking to journalists.

The Kremlin also did not comment, beyond saying that it thought the figures were exaggerated, and there was no word from the wealthy businessmen known as "oligarchs" who struck it rich after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Global Financial Integrity, based in Washington, estimated that an average of $62 billion in money earned from corruption, human trafficking, arms smuggling and other illegal activities has entered or left Russia each year since the start of 2004.

That is a 228 percent increase from the $27.06 billion in illicit funds seen annually on average in the prior decade, the study found.