The problem is not their russian connection. The problem is that a small laundromat always gets 1) Shut down by the feds or 2) The owners make a run for it with everyone's money. The advantage is that they tend to accept anyone, big money or small money, the point for them is to get the deposits rolling. The large laundromat (HSBC & Co) will be too big to take down by the︀ feds, but the inconvenient is that they cherry pick their clients as they are not︁ looking to serve clowns with small time thug money.
An EMI will f**k you over︂ sooner or later, that's why i don't bother with them. I'd rather bank with proper︃ on-shore banks and avoid these issues. Over the years i found that hiding in plain︄ sight is the method of choice for big time criminals, that's why only 2% of︅ tax evasion is done with blacklisted tax havens.