Sergei Roldugin’s mastery of the cello isn’t what made him globally famous.

Media outlets worldwide illuminated the Russian musician’s finances when the Panama Papers investigation revealed that he was behind a network of offshore companies worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Now, a new leak of over 1.3 million banking transactions and other documents has identified additional financial manipulations that further benefited two companies Roldugin is associated with.

Such wealth is inexplicable for a Russian classical musician, even one honored with the title of People’s Artist of Russia, as Roldugin has been. The revelations about Roldugin’s money have piqued public interest because the cellist is known to be a close friend of President Vladimir Putin — and because each of the companies Roldugin was linked to in the Panama Papers investigation were set up and managed by Rossiya Bank, an institution known in Russian media as “Putin’s bank.”

🔗The Panama Papers Published in April 2016, the Panama Papers were one of the biggest leaks in journalistic history, revealing secretive offshore companies that were used to hide wealth, evade taxes, and commit fraud by dictators, criminals, and business tycoons. The documents on which the stories were based were obtained from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The documents were received by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with OCCRP.

The new revelations show two Roldugin-linked companies received at least US$69 million from 2008 through 2010 from a system of at least 75 offshore entities OCCRP has dubbed the Troika Laundromat.

The cellist’s companies did business with at least four shell companies that were part of the Laundromat. That operation functioned from 2006 to early 2013 and took in $4.6 billion. The system was used for many purposes, including moving money out of Russia, money laundering, hiding assets, evading taxes, and more. (It is named after the Russian investment bank Troika Dialog, which created and operated the network to benefit Russia’s elite.)

A share sale agreement with cancellation clauses between Starcourt Worldwide, a Troika Laundromat company, and Sandalwood Continental, controlled by Sergei Roldugin.

The Roldugin companies that received the money were Sandalwood Continental Ltd., based in the British Virgin Islands, and International Media Overseas SA (IMO), based in Panama. Roldugin controlled IMO, while Sandalwood belonged to Oleg Gordin, a St. Petersburg businessman who has acted as Roldugin’s authorized representative in other companies.

About $57.6 million of the total Sandalwood and IMO received from the Laundromat came from payments described as purchase and sale agreements of shares. The remaining $11.6 million was paid by Troika Laundromat companies after they cancelled stock deals with Sandalwood and IMO 16 consecutive times in what appear to be a series of arrangements that served as excuses to funnel money to Roldugin.

Ruben Vardanyan, who headed Troika Dialog at the time the companies it created were wiring money to Roldugin’s companies, says he was unaware of any of this.

“I know there is such a musician, but I never had any dealings with him,” Vardanyan said in an interview with OCCRP. “Why was he receiving money from Troika Dialog companies? I don’t know anything about it.” Vardanyan is not accused of any crimes.

All the transactions were executed through Ukio Bankas in Lithuania, where about half the Troika Laundromat companies are known to have held accounts. Lithuanian regulators shut Ukio in 2013, alleging poor asset quality and compliance. The bank’s principal shareholder, Vladimir Romanov, absconded to Russia. In 2014, the Russian government officially refused to extradite the banker to Lithuania. That left Lithuanian investigators grasping to recoup millions they believe he stole. (Romanov didn’t respond to requests for comment. Edita Karpaviciene, the former chairwoman of Ukio’s supervisory council, declined to comment.)