A dozen of Russians sanctioned are linked to an estimated £800m ($1.045m) property in the United Kingdomas revealed by the BBC.
According to this medium, country mansions in the south of England and luxury flats in the most expensive areas of London are among the houses that have been acquired by figures linked to Vladimir Putin.
The BBC carried out a detailed search of leaked offshore documents, property registration and court documents.
“Our findings highlight the UK’s status as a place for super-rich Russians to make their home and the difficulties in identifying the true owners of properties bought by offshore firms in tax havens,” says the BBC.
In response to the findings, anti-corruption group Transparency International highlighted how difficult it is to track who owns what in the UK, due to the system of internal secrecy and in relation to Overseas Dependencies. “(This makes it) very easy for people to hide their assets and their funds in the UK,” said Rachel Davies, the organization’s chief defense officer.
The properties linked to the sanctioned Russians include: a £230 million ($302 million) real estate empire from the owner of Chelsea, Roman Abramovich; a £65m Victorian mansion in north London; a Surrey manor house at the center of a legal dispute involving Vladimir Putin’s former judo training partner, the BBC reported.
