instead of claiming that it 'is' no safe haven. The UK is awash in money laundering.
The great British money launderette: At least 19 UK firms under investigation for an alleged conspiracy to make $20bn of dirty money seem legitimate
Front companies in the UK are at the heart of an investigation into one of Europe’s biggest money-laundering operations, allegedly forming part of a conspiracy to make $20bn (£12.5bn) of dirty money look legitimate. The funds are believed to have come from major criminals and corrupt officials around the world wanting to make their ill-gotten cash appear “clean”, so they can spend it without suspicion.
At least 19 UK-based front companies are under suspicion. The scandal highlights how lax corporate rules have made this country an attractive destination for global organised crime. The secrecy company directors are entitled to under UK law is also hindering attempts to identify the “Mr Bigs” behind the scam.
An investigation by The Independent and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an NGO, has identified dozens of firms in a global web spreading from Birmingham to Belize.
The scam appears to have gone on for four years before being shut down in May by investigators in another of its main centres – the former Soviet republic of Moldova.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/the-great-british-money-launderette-at-least-19-uk-firms-under-investigation-for-alleged-conspiracy-to-make-20bn-of-dirty-money-seem-legitimate-9797097.htmlLatvia banks fuel Scotland’s shell company ‘factory’ linked to Moldova fraud
The trail of company service providers in Scotland that have churned out thousands of shell companies over the last few years leads to the top echelons of Latvian banks, according to bne IntelliNews enquiries.
A cluster of interlinked Edinburgh corporate service providers have been churning out Scottish shell companies by the thousands over the last few years, constituting a veritable ‘factory’ of companies that do not actually do any business or have any assets.
A report by US corporate investigators Kroll into how $1bn was stolen from Moldovan banks have pinpointed these Scottish shell companies as having played the role of getaway cars for the money looted from the Moldovan banks. According to the report, a total of 28 firms registered in Scotland, along with 20 from elsewhere in the UK, were involved in the heist. But with Scottish shell firms being such a rare phenomenon until recently, tracing their creators is proving more straightforward than usual.
http://www.bne.eu/content/story/latvia-banks-fuel-scotlands-shell-company-factory-linked-moldova-fraudVanishing act: how global auditor failed to spot theft of 15% of Moldova's wealth
One of the world’s leading auditors has been accused of negligence and incompetence after $1bn was siphoned out of Moldova from under its nose – a sum equivalent to 15% of the former Soviet republic’s GDP.
Grant Thornton, the UK based accountancy giant with local franchises in dozens of countries, was the auditor for three of Moldova’s largest banks through which the money was embezzled and spirited out of the country in complex financial transactions, some through UK companies.
As a result, the authorities had to rescue the three banks with a bailout equivalent to half the annual budget. The knock-on effect was a currency collapse and a plunge towards recession, ruining the economy almost overnight. Moldova is already Europe’s poorest country.
The theft was discovered in November 2014 at Unibank, Banca de Economii and Banca Sociala , which the Moldovan member of Grant Thornton, a global network of independent firms, has been auditing since 2010, 2011 and 2013 respectively.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/01/global-auditor-moldova-wealth-franchise-grant-thornton-banks-embezzle
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