Nikolay Sadovnikov, a man suspected of having close ties to the Kremlin, met with former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Oct. 26, 2017 -- just one day before Catalonia declared independence from Spain, according to a joint investigation by media outlets.
During the meeting, Sadovnikov promised the Catalan government a staggering sum of $500 billion in aid, along with 10,000 Russian soldiers if the region became independent, according to the joint report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Catalan daily El Periodico, investigative journalism group Bellingcat, Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, and iStories, a new media outlet founded by Russian investigative journalists.
In exchange, the Russian delegation asked Catalan leaders for just one thing -- to pass legislation favorable to cryptocurrency.
Victor Terradellas, Puigdemont's close associate, attended the meeting and confirmed that it indeed took place. In a text message obtained by journalists, Terradellas said he believed the Russians were part of the mafia.
Sadovnikov is a shadowy figure, but was described by the Catalans as "Putin's envoy."
A Western intelligence agency said he was "an actor of Russian parallel diplomacy" who accompanied Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on trips around the Middle East. The journalist also discovered he had served as a Soviet diplomat then a Russian diplomat in Italy.
Keir Giles, a Russia expert at the British think tank Chatham House, told reporters that the deal could have been "a mixed operation between political interference and the drive for profit."
"If Russia weakens another country by eroding the population's faith in institutions, by devolving its regions, by challenging its constitution, its democratic processes, its legal systems, then ... Russia by default becomes stronger," he said.
Giles added that "the close and intimate connection between political power and organized crime … is a defining feature of so much of modern Russia's means of projecting power."
But despite conversations with Russians, the Catalan independence push failed dramatically in the hours after the 2017 declaration of independence.
The Spanish government took over control of the region and several politicians fled Spain, while others were arrested and eventually charged with crimes like sedition.
However, the Catalans and Russians kept in touch through different interlocutors. In one instance, the Russian side promised 56 bitcoins to support the movement, but only sent one, the report said.
In another, the Russian side reportedly took a photo of Terradellas holding a deposit certificate at the Union Bank of Switzerland worth $500 billion. However, experts said the certificate was clearly forged, containing spelling and grammar mistakes.
According to El Periodico, Terradellas has been cited to declare in front of a judge on Wednesday about his ties to Moscow.
