NRA: The Scale of ML of the proceeds of corruption

Question 1

Why is the UK an attractive location for ML?

Answer 1

The UK is an attractive location for international financial and professional services and for buying property. It is not surprising that, in the same way that the UK attracts legitimate business, it is also a target for organised crime and corrupt politicians and officials:

• The UK is the world’s largest centre for international banking, with an 18% share of cross-border bank lending in September 2011
• The UK banking sector assets are the 2nd largest in the world after the US
• London is the largest currency trading centre in the world, with nearly 41% of global foreign exchange trading going through intermediation of dealers in the UK.

Question 2

How much does corruption cost Europe a year?

Answer 2

The European Commission estimates that, across all European Union (EU) Member States, corruption costs Europe around £144 billion per year

Question 3

But these are just estimates, right?

Answer 3

While the estimates are uncertain, they provide a rough idea of the magnitude of the problem and the need for the UK to effectively detect, restrain and deter the proceeds of corruption passing through the UK.

Question 4

How much £ is laundered into the UK each year?

Answer 4

Prior to its abolition in early 2013, the FSA provided an estimate on its website, using IMF methodology, that £23-57 billion was being laundered within and through the UK each year

Question 5

Case study: General Sani Abacha

Answer 5

General Sani Abacha and his conspirators: An estimated £780 million of money stolen while he was dictator of Nigeria is believed to have been laundered through UK banks

Question 6

Case study: James Ibori

Answer 6

James Ibori, former Governor of Delta State in Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, who pled guilty to ten counts of money laundering, is estimated by UK law enforcement to have embezzled £150 million of Nigerian public funds. Reporting around the Ibori court case shows he bought a house in Hampstead, north London, for £2.2m, and a property in Shaftesbury, Dorset, for £311,000

Question 7

Case study: Saadi Gadaffi

Answer 7

Saadi Gadaffi owned a £10 million home in Hampstead, London via a company named Capitana Seas Ltd. After Gadaffi was deposed, the transitional government in Libya was granted a default judgment against Capitana Seas Limited