British govt fingers Nigerians, Russians in 100m pounds money laundering
Tunde Opalana, Abuja
Police in the United Kingdom has disclosed that persons from Nigeria and Russia top list of people involved in laundering of about 100 million British pounfs every year into Britain to buy luxury goods snd properties.
Reuters report said the British Police disclosed that about 100 billion pounds of dirty cash moves through or into Britain each year mostly from Nigeria and Russia, which are used to buy “everything from luxury London homes to whole companies.
Determined to crack down in particular on suspect money from Russia, Nigeria, former Soviet states and Asia, the report said the National Crime Agency (NCA) indicated it had obtained the Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) , a tough anti-graft powers for the second time to freeze properties believed to be linked to a person involved in serious crime.
It aldo said that the NCA has obtained the UWO from London’s High Court for three houses in prime locations in the British capital which had been bought for more than 80 million pounds ($101 million) and were held by offshore companies.
No details of the properties or the person involved in the case could be made public, the NCA said. While officers investigate the funds used to buy the three properties, freezing orders were granted which mean the houses cannot be sold, transferred or dissipated.
The anti-corruption powers were brought to force foreign officials suspected of corruption and their families to account for their wealth, in a bid to stem dirty money flowing through Britain.
When a UWO is used the onus is on the owner to show that any asset worth more than 50,000 pounds was obtained legitimately.
Police said: “About 100 billion pounds of dirty cash moves through or into Britain each year, buying everything from luxury London homes to whole companies” and they say they are “cracking down in particular on suspect money from Russia, Nigeria, former Soviet states and Asia”.
“The purchase of prime property in London is a tactic used to launder money and we will use all the powers available to us to target those who try to do this,” said Graeme Biggar, Director General of the UK’s National Economic Crime Centre.
