The UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee today published a report, The Moscow's Gold: Russian Corruption in the UK, on the scale of Russian money being laundered in the UK.
The report concludes that the UK Government responded robustly to the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury in March 2018. But despite the strong rhetoric, President Putin and his allies have been able to continue “business as usual” by hiding and laundering their corrupt assets in London. These assets, on which the Kremlin can call at any time, both directly and indirectly support President Putin’s campaign to subvert the international rules-based system, undermine our allies, and erode the mutually-reinforcing international networks that support UK foreign policy.
Julian Dixon, CEO at Anti-Money Laundering experts Fortytwo Data, comments:
“It is at the same time highly concerning and something of a relief to hear the strong rhetoric from the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
"The scale of the amount of Russian money being laundered through London is widely held to be eye-watering and it's about time a proper spotlight was shone on the long-term consequences of this kind of corruption, which is often hidden in plain sight.
"It is no longer politically acceptable for the government to continue to turn a blind eye to high-level Russian crime in our capital.
“It is all too easy to enjoy McMafia on a Sunday evening and dismiss it as a glossy and inconsequential piece of drama. In fact, this kind of organised crime is all too real in this country, and is nothing like as glamorous as it is depicted on screen.
“This report must serve as a wake-up call to our government, both to tighten sanctions on money launderers in the UK and to enforce our laws to prevent offenders from continuing to thrive at the expense of UK interests.”