Gemcorp was founded by a foundation backed by two Russian oligarchs linked to Sergei Chemezov, the powerful boss of Rostech, Russia's state-owned arms giant. He is a close friend of Putin and served in the KGB together with the Russian president. In 2022, Gemcorp announced that it had severed ties with Russia last year and closed its Moscow office. But the origins of his success show how money from businessmen now allegedly linked to the Kremlin was used to gain a foothold in Britain's financial sector.