The Unexplained Wealth Order Of Britian

[Me.]

WE need something like this in this country. It's not perfect and often needs a criminal charge or prosecution to trigger it, nevertheless, it can be used to ask questions by the gov. when either a citizen or guest in a country seemingly has enormous amounts of money to spend from a vague/questionable source.

The Criminal Finances Act, which received Royal Assent in April, (2017)introduces new measures to tackle asset recovery and money laundering in the UK. A key element of the Act is Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) – an investigative tool to help law enforcement act on corrupt assets. This is something that Transparency International has been pushing for since 2014.

Why are Unexplained Wealth Orders needed?
Unfortunately, there is growing evidence that the UK has become a safe haven for corrupt individuals and their assets. UK law enforcement has limited power to seize corrupt property.

https://www.transparency.org.uk/unexplained-wealth-orders-a-brief-guide/

[RockRaven]

1. The Unexplained Wealth Order of Britain sounds like a kind of knighthood.

But to your point, yes we do.

[jberryhill]

7. That's what I thought it was

Last edited Sat Nov 17, 2018, 01:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Sir Kickback of Embezzle, QC UWOB

[sharedvalues]

2. Great but UK let Putin kill Litvininko to keep laundered money rolling in.

Ridiculous that the UK did nothing to punish Putin for poisoning Litvininko.
Word is UK govt was afraid of cutting off the russian money spigot into London.

Failure to confront Putin then brought Brexit, Trump, Skripal.

[Me.]

3. You're Quite Right About Their Failures

But they are starting to look which is more than we are doing. The Russians interfered with our elections and the Saudis killed an American resident and the Turks are demanding the right to kill another and all this is being ignored/debated. And while the Brits have a long way to go it doesn't eliminate the need for something like this in our country. This type of wealth has a direct connection to the Comrade in the WH.

[sharedvalues]

9. We have Mueller and they do not

That said, they have a data commission investigating Cambridge Analytica and Facebook and we do not.


https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/11/16/why-britain-needs-its-own-mueller/

[Me.]

10. Right But We Also Need Investigations & Oversight

on strictly financial matters...and they all may be directly related...we'll see

[sharedvalues]

11. Oh yeah

[DFW]

4. They need to define what they're after, or the mission will be so vague as to be unenforceable

"Corrupt property?"

Property isn't corrupt. The people who own it might well be.

To zero in on people who raped their countries (Erdoğan, Putin, Chávez/Maduro, drug lords, Dick Cheney, warlords, whoever), parameters need to be set, so that if Bill Gates or Carlos Slim wants to buy some £30 million residence in London that they don't get terrorized by some overeager bureaucrat who is acting out of jealousy. Vaguely worded regulations lead to corrupt regulators (Belgium is a shining example--"give me money and I'll go investigate someone else" ). Set specific, justifiable and realistic goals, and go after guys who really are bad. Don't harass people who are wealthy for no other reason than that they are just successful. Define "unexplained wealth" specifically, and go after people who match the description. There are plenty of them. Some of them won't even have your wife and children kidnapped if you act.

[Me.]

5. It's Not Wealth Per Se But The Source Of It

Woman Who Spent $21 Million At Harrods Named As Wife Of Jailed Azerbaijani Banker

“The mysterious woman at the center of a court battle in Britain to keep properties worth $29 million has been named as the wife of the jailed former boss of Azerbaijan's biggest bank.”

“Hajiyeva's lavish lifestyle made her the first target of new legislation designed to target suspected corrupt foreign officials who have potentially laundered stolen money through Britain.

Hajiyeva's husband, Jahangir Hajiyev, was chairman of the state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan from 2001-15. In 2016, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of fraud and embezzlement, charges he denied, and was ordered to repay $29 million.”

“In February, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) secured the country’s first-ever unexplained wealth order (UOW) to target Hajiyeva's wealth.”

https://www.rferl.org/a/woman-who-spent-21-million-at-harrods-named-as-wife-of-jailed-azerbaijani-banker/29536282.html

[DFW]

6. And THAT is what needs to be observed

Corrupt (or even merely underfunded) investigators too often are intimidated (or outright threatened) by powerful figures who have used the ill-gotten gains for a massive and far-reaching network of killers (Putin's is only the best known) that eliminate whistle-blowers wherever they may decide to flee to. The temptation to harass legitimate wealth to compensate for the corrupt ones being too hard (or dangerous) to get at must be resisted for such a program to truly be effective. Unfortunately, the investigators are paid cops' wages, and not all of them are as clean as Eliot Ness.

[Me.]

8. It Is Also Why Russia /Putin Hates The Magnitsky Act