Russian ‘dirty money’ is still flowing into the UK before being used to fund Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine due to ‘shameful’ government complacency, a scathing report warns today.
The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said ministers had failed to take action on the cash and assets being ‘laundered’ through the City of London.
The current measures installed ‘do not go far or fast enough’, the report says, while the committee said it was ‘shameful’ that it had taken the Ukraine war for the Economic Crime Act to be brought in.
Russian ‘dirty money’ is still flowing into the UK before being used to fund Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a report warns today. It puts this down to ‘shameful’ government complacency. Pictured: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
The report comes after Britain placed sanctions on one of Putin’s associates – Vladimir Potanin – who is also the second richest man in Russia. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin
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Structurally, the resources of responsible bodies such as the National Crime Agency and Serious Fraud Office still face a ‘fundamental mismatch’ against the wealthy individuals they are targeting. The report said: ‘Without the means and resources, enforcement agencies are toothless.’
Committee chairman Tom Tugendhat said: ‘For far too long, successive governments have allowed malign actors and kleptocrats to wash their dirty money in the London “laundromat”.
‘Complacency has left the door open to corrupt wealth taking root and morally bankrupt billionaires using the UK as a safe deposit box.’
The criticism came as Britain slapped sanctions on Russia’s second-richest man – Putin associate Vladimir Potanin, 61, known as the Nickel King – freezing his assets and banning him from the UK.
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