Luxury homes that have been bought with ‘dirty money’ could be seized

Oligarch mansions bought with ‘dirty money’ in the wealthiest parts of London could be seized and converted into affordable housing as part of a new crackdown on money laundering.

Westminster City Council is investigating the use of subpoenas if it determines that properties in Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair, among others, have been acquired with ill-gotten wealth or ‘money of dubious origin’.

According to Transparency International, Russians accused of corruption or ties to the Kremlin have brought houses worth nearly £430 million into Westminster since 2016. This is more than any other municipal area in Britain.

Meanwhile, Westminster has seen a 300 percent increase in the number of properties registered with owners in Jersey since 2010 and a 1,200 percent increase in the number of properties registered with owners in Russia.

The Labor Council is currently investigating the use of a writ of execution against a property registered in Seychelles after the owner fell behind with his council tax. the guard reported.

However, the authority faces major hurdles, including a lack of transparency about property ownership and a lack of scrutiny over companies registered with Companies House.

Westminster – which currently has a waiting list for affordable housing for 4,000 households – said it is comparing properties abroad with council tax records to find out if they were being used for its stated purpose.

The council defines black money as money obtained from criminal activity, bribery or misuse of government money, while money of dubious origin is usually associated with the use of tax havens or the devious use of shell companies.

Council leader, Cllr Adam Hug, said: ‘The dirty secret of Westminster has been known for many years, but those in power have looked the other way for too long as money of questionable origin poured into London and investors took advantage of our relatively lax laws.’

“It took the war in Ukraine to draw attention to investment in oligarchs and what London has become in terms of a European dirty money launderette.

But the problem extends beyond Putin and his accomplice to many others who see Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Mayfair and other parts of Westminster as places to flush their money.

“Not only does this damage our city’s reputation by supporting authoritarianism abroad, but it also depletes the vitality of areas with empty or underutilized houses.”

Cllr Hug is calling on the government to make a series of changes to make it easier to tackle money laundering, including stricter controls on property owners.

“Companies House does not have the powers or resources to address those who set up opaque shell companies to launder money and export money out of London,” he said.

“It takes more background checks to get a loan card from a local authority than it does to set up a business in the UK.

“We want to work with government ministers and agencies to fight black money and ensure agencies like HMRC and the National Crime Agency have the right resources.”

His other recommendations include increasing the fee for registering a company with Companies House from £12 to £50 and introducing stricter identity checks.

Earlier this year, MailOnline revealed that Westminster had launched a crackdown on alleged corporate rate evasion by US candy stores and souvenir shops in Oxford Street.

In total, 30 shops are currently being investigated for corporate rate evasion of around £8 million.

A common feature in these investigations was the use of opaque shell corporate structures to avoid identifying the real owners, thus frustrating attempts by the municipality to take violators to court.