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NCA chief: we can't target oligarchs purely because they are Russian

Named in Commons: oligarch Alisher Usmanov: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Named in Commons: oligarch Alisher Usmanov: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Britain's top law enforcement body today dashed hopes of a major purge on Russian oligarchs living in London on criminal profits by warning that only “a small number” will be targeted under new powers.

The National Crime Agency said it had “scoped” around 50 potential “unexplained wealth order” cases in which tycoons could be required to prove the source of their cash or face losing their assets.

It expected to bring a “significant” number of these to court over the next two years. But it said that only a handful of the cases involved Russians and that more of the suspected criminals came from other parts of the world.

Donald Toon, the director in charge of the agency’s fight against economic crime, said the reason that so few Russians were in the frame was that law enforcers could not “target people by nationality” and had to have evidence to take action.

His comments will disappoint MPs who this week called for greater use of unexplained wealth orders against rich Russians as part of the government’s response to the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Double agent: Sergei Skripal was found unconscious in Salisbury, where he has been living a quiet retirement
Double agent: Sergei Skripal was found unconscious in Salisbury, where he has been living a quiet retirement

Those calling for the powers - which came into effect at the start of February - to be used to target Russians with illicit assets include the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, the Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, as well as Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn.

But Mr Toon said that although some Russians were likely to be taken to court, Britain’s reputation depended on the “absolute priority of the rule of law” and that there was no evidence to justify a wider purge.

“Under current circumstances, I cannot see significant numbers of unexplained wealth orders being used against Russians. It’s all about being able to set out for the court whether there is enough evidence to justify an order,” he said during an interview with the Evening Standard.

“Are there any issues with Russian controlled money in the work we are preparing? Yes, there are. But we are talking about a small number. Significantly more are from other nationalities.

“We cannot simply take legal action unless there is the basis to do so. Somebody has to do something wrong. Simply being born Russian is not illegal.”

He added: “We have scoped a whole series of cases and a range of nationalities - initially around 50 cases. We have taken two unexplained wealth orders to court and have further cases in the pipeline. It’s designed to address a gap in our ability to target illicit finance, but it’s doing so in a balanced way within the UK’s normal rule of law.”

Skewing law enforcement efforts to target Russians would damage Britain. “The UK’s reputation as a place to do business is based on the absolute priority of the rule of law.

“To remove someone’s assets, you have to be able to demonstrate to the courts that those assets have been illicitly obtained and are illicitly held. It is the law that we enforce, not an opinion or a point of view.

“That’s what makes the UK a safe place to operate, whether you are an individual, own a business in the UK, are a multinational, or a very rich person, the law is there to apply to everyone in the same way,” he said.

Mr Toon added that using sanctions to target Russians was, by contrast, “very different and absolutly legitimately set out” as part of “a recognised international procedure” and the National Crime Agency would play its part in enforcing any that are imposed.

He also disclosed that his agency, which tackles organised and other forms of serious crime, currently had more than £1 billion of suspected criminal assets held under restraint by the courts.

Most of this was in UK, including a signficant amount of London property. It also included around £700 million linked to cases of “grand corruption”, money laundering and bribery. Some cases involved suspects from Africa and central Asia, as well as other foreign jurisdictions. Britons were also under investigation.

In his Commons call for the greater use of unexplained wealth orders, Lib Dem leader Mr Cable named the Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov and Russia’s “First Deputy Prime Minister, Igor Shuvalov, who owns... a £14 million flat overlooking the Ministry of Defence” as potential targets.

He said both had been identified by the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny as being “critical to the Putin operation” and urged Prime Minister Theresa May to act.

Mrs May said she wanted to “bring all the capabilities of UK law enforcement to bear against serious criminals and corrupt elites” but that unexplained wealth orders must be deployed in line with the rule of law.