Oligarchs in the Shadows: How Russia Is Funding Chaos in America’s Backyard

Backed by Russian Oligarchs: How Dirty Money Fuels Coups in America's Backyard

 Russian oligarchs aren’t just oligarchs. They’re the Kremlin’s offshore bankers, unofficial operatives, and global chess pieces—moving in silence through jurisdictions built for secrecy. While the West keeps its eyes on Ukraine and Taiwan, these billionaires are burrowing into America’s blind spots: the Caribbean and Latin America. Places close enough to feel the heat, but just far enough away for the fire to smolder unnoticed.

     In places like Panama, Belize, and the British Virgin Islands, Putin’s favorite billionaires have built sprawling shadow empires. We’re talking layers of shell companies, fake executives, and offshore accounts that are anything but ordinary. These aren’t just tax dodge setups: they’re high-powered machines built to wash Kremlin money, buy influence, and quietly bankroll foreign ops. Espionage, disinformation campaigns, political meddling—you name it, the cash flows through these backdoor channels without ever tripping an alarm.

     This whole system is built to disappear in plain sight. Guys like Oleg Deripaska, Igor Sechin, and the late Yevgeny Prigozhin have used it to move billions under the radar. Deripaska, for example, wasn’t just some shady billionaire—he was tied to Russia’s efforts to interfere in U.S. politics and had documented connections to Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman. His ties to the Trump orbit raised serious red flags during the 2016 election, especially with Russian influence hanging over the whole thing.

     Sechin, who runs Rosneft and used to be Russia’s deputy prime minister, plays the long game—cutting oil and gas deals with foreign power players to buy political favors, usually with the FSB lurking in the background. They all know how to work the loopholes, hide money in offshore havens, and dodge sanctions. But what’s worse is how they use these setups to quietly fund Russian intelligence ops—spying, cyberattacks, influence campaigns—all without leaving a trace.

     Western intelligence agencies have tracked these patterns, but that doesn’t make them easy to stop. In Panama, for instance, where weak financial enforcement meets a thriving offshore services industry, these oligarchs can funnel cash to cutouts and front companies with near impunity. That money then flows into everything from mercenary contracts to cyber units to destabilization efforts against U.S. allies.

     It’s the exact scenario Corey Pearson faces in Crimson Shadows, when the CIA uncovers that Russian oligarch Viktor Orlov is using shell companies in the region to bankroll General Hector Alvarez’s planned coup to overthrow the Panamanian government. The fictional plot mirrors reality all too closely—millions in dirty money quietly fueling the rise of a Kremlin-aligned regime, right under America’s nose.

     Propping up shady politicians or rogue generals to take down legit governments isn’t some rare move—it’s practically a page out of Russia’s standard playbook. We've already seen it in places like Africa and the Middle East, where billionaire-backed outfits like the Wagner Group, run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, did the dirty work. Wagner rolled in with guns, kept dictators in power, and locked down juicy resource deals that all funneled back to Moscow. Prigozhin wasn’t just some merc boss—he was tight with Putin and had serious ties to Russian intel. Wagner was his way of doing Russia’s bidding without the Kremlin’s fingerprints all over it. And now that same game plan is creeping into Latin America.

     That’s the reality that inspired the spy thriller Crimson Shadows, set in modern-day Panama. The story follows a rogue general backed by a Russian oligarch using shell companies to fund a coup—fiction, yes, but uncomfortably close to what CIA analysts say is already unfolding. The oligarch in the story might be named Viktor Orlov, but the behavior mirrors real-world actors who are already maneuvering in the region.

     This isn’t Cold War cloak-and-dagger. This is modern hybrid warfare-economic, political, and covert. Russian oligarchs don’t need to carry out missions themselves. They just need to provide the cover and the cash. In return, the Kremlin protects them, rewards them, and lets them operate with an untouchable air. And through this quiet system of influence and laundering, Russia extends its reach- right up to the doorstep of the United States.

     The Caribbean region isn’t just vacation homes and cruise ports anymore. It's a strategic beachhead in a shadow conflict we can't afford to ignore.

 

Robert Morton is a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and writes about the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). The Corey Pearson- CIA Spymaster series blends his knowledge of real-life intelligence operations with gripping fictional storytelling. His work offers readers an insider’s glimpse into the world of espionage, inspired by the complexities and high-stakes realities of the intelligence community.