‘Oligarchs to be targeted over suspect assets’

AN EXPERT on Russian oligarchs believes that the Government will slowly turn the screws on dodgy money in the UK after the Salisbury incident.

Prominent Russian figures said to have ties to Vladimir Putin’s regime own properties in Britain worth nearly £1.1billion, according to estimates.

But campaign group Transparency International estimates Russians account for £729million of £4.4billion acquired in UK property through what it says is “suspicious wealth”.

Oliver Bullough, who has written the book Moneyland: Why Thieves And Crooks Now Rule The World And How To Take It Back, said: “Unexplained Wealth Orders, which require the owner of an asset to explain how they were able to afford that asset, came in at the start of this year, but they have not been used widely.

“However, there has been since Salisbury, much more discussion of measures that can be taken and a feeling of a wind of change. It has focussed Whitehall’s minds.

“The Government will continue its slow-burn attempt to make London uncomfortable for rich Russians.”