The Mayor of London is demanding ministers take sanctioning Russian oligarchs seriously by moving immediately to seize assets that can then be sold to fund aid to Ukraine.
Khan has previously called for property belonging to Russian’s linked to the Kremlin to be seized and now believes this should be extended to possessions like jewellery, designer clothes and cars as well as property.
He says this must be done immediately before oligarchs can conduct a ‘fire sale’ in order to beat slow moving sanctions regimes. He believes there are fears that many of those now facing sanctions will be looking for ways to divulge their properties, businesses and valuables as swiftly as possible.
If seizure were carried out swiftly - as was seen in Marseille when French authorities took control of a superyacht belonging to Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin - then assets could then be sold by the state and the funds used to support aid to Ukraine.
Ministers have made high profile announcements about wide ranging sanctions packages against Russian banks, businesses and individuals operating in London but the Mayor claims far too many loopholes still exist. These include the 30 day ‘wind down period’ for companies to conclude business arrangements before sanctions come into effect and the reports that some sanctions against individuals will take weeks to enforce.
The Mayor is calling for the immediate imposition of all planned sanctions, the publication of a list of the individuals set to be sanctioned and seizure measures to go beyond property and to include high value items such as luxury yachts, cars and art. In order to achieve these aims the Mayor wants to see funding boosted for both the National Crime Agency and the Serious Fraud Office to enable investigators to work effectively against the financial might of the oligarchs.
Khan says: “Nobody expected sanctioning President Putin’s allies in the UK to be straightforward, these are some of the richest and most powerful people in the world. But it is completely unacceptable that ministers are offering them such easy loopholes to disguise or liquidate their assets before the state can act.
“London can no longer be a laundromat for oligarchs’ finances. We know there is at least £1.1bn of property in London linked to the Kremlin, along with millions of pounds worth of art, cars, boats and other goods. Meanwhile, Ukraine calls for aid as the Russian army advances on Kyiv.
“We need the powers and political will to turn the ill-gotten gains of Putin-allies into Ukrainian aid. Ministers must not delay whilst Ukraine burns.”
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Khan shooting his mouth off again.
Nobody can doubt the seriousness of the Ukraine situation but now we are looking at overturning property rights, legalised theft of assets and someone being found guilty by association, regardless of what their views are on their leader's attacks on the neigbouring country. Why is there an outright assumption that these oligarchs have any influence over Putin? They might have, they might not but IMHO Putin is way beyond listening to someone whining about losing their boat or house.
I fully appreciate that drastic measures are called for in order to do all we can for those suffering in Ukraine but for me this doesn't sit right. I'm sure I'll not get much support for my views but hey ho.
Meanwhile Khan gets another sound bite in.
Cancel culture - demonstrated here via financial means - is a pervasive cancer now endemic in society. Critical thinking, like journalism, is dead.
you get my support I cannot stand Khan
John McKay,
I totally agree with you.
In a good cause Khan wants to turn Nazi robber for this is exactly what the Nazis did to the Jews all over Europe where they occupied the countries, and with no provocation. Have we learned nothing from WWII?
Who will be next on Khan's robbery spree list? Many wealthy Saudi's financially supported Al Qaeda and generated the terrorist attacks that maimed and killed many Londoners and other Brits. Furthermore, they helped to spawn ISIS which destabilized Iraq and Syria to name but two countries. Our soldiers died fighting ISIS. So to date, Saudi funds have done more harm to Brits, other Europeans and Americans, than those of Russian oligarchs. Do we now target all the Saudis living in London and confiscate all their wealth? I notice Mr Khan is very quiet on spreading misappropriation of property to nationals of his own religion. I wonder why?
Of course Putin listens to no one. Whilst these oligarchs may have facilitated him in the past, he is the one who has kept the power whilst they kept much of the money. Navalny tried to oppose Putin and was initially poisoned and then imprisoned for his efforts and had his wealth confiscated. I doubt very much that these oligarchs want to help Putin any more.
If it comes to WWIII, which it just might with the nutter Putin, then, if there is time, you would have to intern Russians as unreliable aliens, just like people with German connections were interned on the Isle of Man during WWII. They had only limited access to their wealth, whilst they were interned but I don't believe that even they were deprived of their their property for ever. After WWII was over, they got their homes back.
It seems we had more moral sense in the mid 20th century and eschewed listening to populist demagogues like Khan, because we were engaged in a fight for survival against one of the arch demagogues of history - Adolf Hitler!
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