Representatives of Italy’s far-right League party travelled to Moscow last October for a clandestine meeting with Russian agents. The Kremlin was ready to secretly fund the populist, anti-EU party. But when a recording of the talks was leaked, the political row that followed set in motion the slow disintegration of the League’s foothold on power, culminating with the collapse of Italy’s government in August.

Yet the disclosure did not just cause political waves. The meeting had been focused on solving a practical problem: how to move dirty Russian money — running into the millions of euros — into Italy, through Europe’s heavily-monitored banking system, without triggering any alarms?

The parties knew they needed a financial intermediary. It had to be in western Europe, but not in a country like the UK. It had to be dependable — and discreet. But above all, it had to seem legitimate. “If it is [through] Austria,” said Gianluca Meranda, a lawyer representing the League, “we have very good links with [Thomas] Moskovics . . . the owner of Winter Bank”.