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British police freeze $121 million in accounts on bribery fears

Published 14/08/2019, 17:22
Updated 14/08/2019, 17:30
British police freeze $121 million in accounts on bribery fears

LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters) - British police have frozen eight
bank accounts containing a total of more than 100 million pounds
($121 million), which is suspected to have derived from bribery
and corruption overseas.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday a London
court had approved the Account Freezing Orders (AFOs), the
largest granted to date, and that police would recover the funds
if investigators proved it had been intended for unlawful use.
The NCA said it could not provide any details that could
identify individuals related to the accounts.
AFOs and Unexplained Wealth Orders, that allow police to
freeze assets until property owners account for their wealth,
are part of a toolbox introduced last year to help stem a tide
of suspected corrupt cash washing through the country.
London has long attracted corrupt foreign money, especially
from Russia, Nigeria, Pakistan, former Soviet states and Asia,
and the NCA estimates that around 100 billion pounds of dirty
money is moved through or into Britain each year.
"The NCA is ... seeking to ... convince the NCA's foreign
counterparts that even if they cannot prosecute untouchable
oligarchs at home, if they have assets here, these can be
attacked," said David Corker, a partner at law firm Corker
Binning.
($1 = 0.8290 pounds)

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