Myself in front of one of the properties which are part of the network of properties belonging to an Ex-Land Minister of the previous Bangladesh government.
Not since Robert Clive and the East India Company looted the Bengal Treasury after the Battle of Plassey 1757 have we heard such talk of ill gotten gains from
South Asia, following the Monsoon revolution in Bangladesh.
Whilst we known of the activities of certain individuals from the past administration of Bangladesh having almost over 350 properties in the UK alone, is it at all comparable to what the Panama Papers revealed about Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs and there activities in London? Or to pick just one other global region from the Middle East?
Famously, part of the vast fortune of Roman Abramovich, the best known of seven
Russian oligarchs with close links to President Putin, who had UK assets frozen after
the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, bankrolled Chelsea FC to some seven Premier and
UEFA Champions League trophies during his tenure, compared to just one in the
100 years before.
This was one of the few actions the previous UK government took on this matter
after the Ukraine war broke. Despite the high profile of western sanctions against
Russia, it is well known that a ‘shadow fleet’ of hundreds of older ships
systematically helps it to evade sanctions, with little repercussion.
Convenience for oligarchs is nothing new in London. Only this weekend the Sunday
Times reported on the plush Mayfair Mansion inhabited by two children of Ali Bongo,
the ousted President of Gabon against whom there are multiple allegations of
financial wrongdoing, with the telling headline Dad’s under house arrest in Gabon.
We’re left playing Xbox in our Mayfair mansion.
One thing is for sure, money laundered in London skews the Central London housing market and our capital is one of the global hub of the money laundering. It was something l looked into whilst l was at the London Assembly as an Assembly Member, which the previous Mayor of London Boris Johnson was in denial about when l asked him about it and did not do anything about it once he had reached No 10 Downing Street even though he acknowledged the issue eventually.
To explain the process, money Laundering became a distinct criminal offence, or rather a number of related offences, by virtue of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). In effect the Act made it an offence to deal in any way with any benefit accrued through crime.
The MPS has developed a clear strategy for the mainstreaming of POCA within the MPS, with resources on borough and within the various specialisms looking at the movement of money and other proceeds of crime. There is a focus on money laundering, as it is a criminal lifestyle offence that triggers confiscation. The majority of the incentivization funding from POCA is being funnelled into creating a POCA infrastructure.
An investigation into money laundering is effectively taking place when any investigation into serious acquisitive crime is being conducted The aspiration under the MPS POCA plan is to look at the money laundering aspect of all acquisitive crime at all levels of policing and criminality.
In common with other types of crime the MPS structure and processes allow for more complex money laundering investigations to be undertaken by different specialist units within a number of MPS Directorates. The SCD6 Money Laundering Investigation Team has particular expertise and they undertake the most complex cases and are conducting innovative investigations around criminal money.
The number of arrests for money laundering across the MPS is not readily or easily available and as stated above most offences will have suspicion of money laundering attached but individuals may not be specifically arrested for that offence ‘ although they may later be prosecuted for money laundering based on the evidence presented to the CPS.
As a guide to activity in the MPS there were 245 persons charged with money laundering and 374 cash seizures (usually a person is arrested for money laundering at the time they have cash seized from them) for the 12 months ending August 2006 (figures obtained from the Joint Asset Recovery Database). Also in 2006 at the half-year point the MPS had seized £7.5 million in cash, restrained £32 million and had £13.5 million ordered forfeit and confiscated by the courts.
So, in short whilst the various Bangladesh cases of money laundering in London will
be investigated in much detail over the next few years, l am sure they are only the tip
of the iceberg for such activities in London from across the world and hope these
other instances will get investigated a lot more as well.
It is vital for countries like Bangladesh, that they find ways of stopping such
wrongdoing in the first place.
