Commons increases pressure to seize Russian-owned property
The Commons foreign affairs committee has launched a new inquiry into the foreign cash “carrying corruption and crime through our markets”, as the foreign secretary vows to get tough on Kremlin-linked assets.
Liz Truss has said measures against Russian assets would be the “toughest sanction regime against Russia we have ever had”, and would give the UK “the power to sanction a broader range of individuals and businesses”.
However, she has been criticised for not introducing new measures to seize real estate bought with corrupt money.
The Commons foreign affairs committee has launched a new inquiry into the foreign cash “carrying corruption and crime through our markets”, as the foreign secretary vows to get tough on Kremlin-linked assets.
Liz Truss has said measures against Russian assets would be the “toughest sanction regime against Russia we have ever had”, and would give the UK “the power to sanction a broader range of individuals and businesses”.
However, she has been criticised for not introducing new measures to seize real estate bought with corrupt money.
The Commons inquiry is a response to fears that dirty money from Russia has been used to buy up swaths of London real estate.
It comes four years after the committee published Moscow’s Gold, which exposed the problem and called for government action.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, said Britain benefitted hugely from being at the heart of global finance but “the channels of wealth have also been carrying corruption and crime through our markets. Since our 2018 report Moscow Gold, the government has done little to address these dangers.”
He said this was damaging Britain’s reputation and its ability to stand up to Russian president Vladamir Putin.
A separate report from the Centre for American Progress, which is linked to the administration of US president Joe Biden, noted that “uprooting Kremlin-linked oligarchs will be a challenge given the close ties between Russian money and the United Kingdom’s ruling Conservative Party, the press, and its real estate and financial industry”.
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