Britain will need to invest more in investigations if it is serious about driving out corrupt capital
SUSPECTING THAT a fancy London pad was acquired with stolen money is one thing, proving it another. British crime-busters have long struggled to join the dots to courts’ satisfaction. So last year the country introduced Unexplained Wealth Orders , which shift the burden of proof. These can be issued when there is a gap between the value of an asset and the legitimate income of the apparent owner—for instance a foreign official on a modest state salary or one of his relatives.
It emerged this week that three London homes have been frozen by the High Court, in the second use of such orders by the National Crime Agency . The properties, worth £80m when purchased a decade ago, are held by offshore companies. The owner has not been named but is a “politically exposed person”—a politician, state official or someone linked to them.
The government touts UWOs as evidence that it is taking on foreigners who launder ill-gotten gains through property purchases, often hiding behind shell companies. A public register of the owners of offshore firms that hold British property is in the works. But many more such orders would be needed to reach beyond the tip of the money-laundering iceberg. Transparency International has identified 150 British properties worth £4.4bn bought with iffy wealth, and that is just the “low-hanging fruit”, says the anti-corruption group. The NCA complains of being underfunded, and resources have been diverted from white-collar cases to areas with more visible victims, such as knife crime.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
AP Explains: What lies ahead for UK after May's resignationLONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she will step down as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, starting a process that will lead to a Conservative Party leadership contest and a new British prime minister who will lead the government during the Brexit process. Here are
Read more »
Japanese firms resist hiring foreign workers under new immigration law: Reuters pollOnly one in four Japanese companies plan to actively employ foreign workers unde...
Read more »
Chick-fil-A's Miami airport location gets pushback from city leader over anti-LGBTQ stanceA Miami city leader wants to stop Chick-fil-A from opening at the city's airport due to the company's financial support of anti-LGBTQ causes.
Read more »
China's ShFE aims to open non-ferrous futures to foreign investors within two yearsThe Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) is exploring ways to open up its non-ferrou...
Read more »
Instant buyers are changing the way people buy and sell their homesZillow, America's biggest online property marketplace, is having success with its instant-buying business
Read more »
Netflix Threatens Georgia: ‘We’ll Rethink Our Entire Investment’ If Anti-Abortion Bill Becomes LawNew projects from Reed Morano and Kristen Wiig have already pulled out of Georgia after Governor Brian Kemp signed the 'Heartbeat Bill.'
Read more »
San Francisco police chief says raid on journalist's home may have violated California shield lawSan Francisco police chief wants investigation into the department's handling of a raid on a journalist's home. The police union wants the chief to resign because it says he's trying to throw officers who carried out the raid 'under a double-decker bus.'
Read more »
New VR tech aims to teach cops what it feels like to be in psychiatric distressA promising new pilot program in Chicago uses virtual reality to help police better understand how to handle a subject who is in the midst of psychiatric distress.
Read more »
New rule would let U.S. companies sue foreign rivals over currency weaknessU.S. companies would be able to seek penalties against foreign competitors they say benefit from artificially weak currencies, under a new rule proposed by the Trump administration.
Read more »