Property in the UK: a home for corrupt money http://www.transparency.org/news/feature/property_in_the_uk_a_home_for_corrupt_money
Posted 4 March 2015
It is well-known that the global rich are buying up large parts of London. But who they really are and where their money comes from is too often a well-kept secret. They use secret offshore companies to buy the properties and don’t disclose their identities.
These secret companies (or shell companies) are a common way for moving corrupt money around the world. They can hide money that corrupt politicians divert from investments in schools and hospitals and they can hide the proceeds of other crimes.
The corrupt are helped to buy properties by lawyers, accountants and estate agents who do not ask where the money is coming from – which by law in most countries, including the UK, they are supposed to do.