UK offensive organization supporting Russia's cash flow

Dominic Greave, a British politician and former attorney general, posed for photos outside Old Bailey in central London.

From sanctions against oligarchy to “gold visas” to anti-economic crime legislation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led the British government to attack an organization that has for decades drawn Russian money from sometimes dubious sources.

“This is the end of an era,” Dominic Creve, a lawyer and former chairman of a parliamentary committee, told AFP.

Anti-money activists often point to the role played by Britain’s powerful financial sector and the forces of its London lawyers, accountants and estate agents.

In addition, they criticize the Conservative government for its inefficiency and a particular hypocrisy in combating the dubious cash flow that irrigates the British economy.

But the Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the administration to react. Greve denounced that the integration of rich Russians had been encouraged since 2008 by the issuance of so-called “golden visas” in exchange for millionaire investments.

– Gravity pole –

With these visas, “London and the United Kingdom became an undeniable attraction pole,” especially for Russian businessmen who made a lot of money in the most dubious circumstances with the collapse of the former Soviet Union, he adds.

They saw the UK as “a good place to work … many times for their children to live and study”.

NGO Transparency International has identified 1.5 1.5 billion ($ 1.975 billion, 8 1.8 billion) worth of assets owned by Russians accused of corruption or links to the Kremlin in the upper London neighborhood.

According to the organization, more than 2,000 companies registered in the country or its territories have been used in fraud or corruption cases worth 82 82 billion.

London announced in mid-February that it would stop issuing “gold visas” to Fifteen Russians close to Vladimir Putin’s government, before expanding its list of people subject to sanctions.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that “more” should be done on personal sanctions.

A bill tabled in parliament aims to prevent money laundering by real estate, forcing the final owners to reveal their identities so they can no longer “hide” behind a company.

Many Russian oligarchy in the UK “clearly knew” that they had “very close ties with the Russian government”, posing a security risk to the country, Greve said.

– In the service of oligarchy –

The city of London will be “severely affected” by restrictions on oligarchy, such as property freezes and travel bans, but the UK is attracting money from around the world and “that does not mean it will go bankrupt,” he assured the department.

The UK financial sector is already subject to laws designed to control the flow of dirty money, but so far enforcement has been weak, partly due to a lack of resources in the public finance crime sector.

“The set of new measures will be very useful,” says Ben Cowdac, head of Transparency International’s investigations in the UK, particularly in shedding light on the “nearly 90,000 property owners” in the country.

But he warns that “these measures must have sufficient resources to be used effectively.”

According to Transparency International’s 2019 investigation, the fortunes invested in the country came mostly from Russia, but also from Ukraine, China and Nigeria.

“Since the end of the British Empire, the UK has been serving the richest companies and institutions in the world,” agrees Oliver Bullo, author of a book entitled This Week.

He told the AFP that despite recent government announcements, “there does not seem to be any awareness from anyone that money should not be accepted.” He considers British advertising to be “very disappointing” due to a lack of evidence.