LONDON - One of Vladimir Putin's closest friends may have used Barclays Bank in London to launder money and dodge sanctions, leaked documents suggest.

Billionaire Arkady Rotenberg has known the Russian president since childhood.

Financial restrictions, or sanctions, were imposed on Mr Rotenberg by the US and the EU in 2014, which means Western banks could face serious consequences for doing business with him.

Barclays says it met all its legal and regulatory duties.

A leak of confidential files - banks' "suspicious activity reports" - reveal how companies believed to be controlled by Mr Rotenberg kept the secret accounts.

The documents, known as the FinCEN Files, have been seen by the BBC's Panorama programme.

In March 2014 the US hit Russia with economic sanctions following the annexation of Crimea in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department designated Mr Rotenberg, 68, and his brother Boris, 63, "members of the Russian leadership's inner circle".

The pair had sparred and trained in the same judo gym as Putin when they were young.(FA)