Activist: London Property Market Tied to 'Dirty Money'

AS IT IS 2015-08-10 Activist¹: London Property Market Tied to 'Dirty Money'

Anti-corruption activists³ say billions of dollars earned from criminal acts are passing through the London property market. They also say a lot of the money for housing and other real estate is coming from Russia.

The British government is now promising⁴ to fight the money-laundering⁵ activities. But one investment advisor⁶ told VOA the government has known about the problem for years.

Over the past five years, major properties in London have risen in value by 42 percent. Activists say one reason for the increase is the rise in the use of what they call “dirty money” to buy homes and buildings.

Recently, a British television program reported on an investigation⁷ into the use of stolen money to buy property. The program was called “From Russia With Cash.” In the show, anti-corruption activist Roman Borisovich was seen speaking with several real estate agents in central London. Mr. Borisovich told them he was a Russian government minister who wanted to buy property with stolen money. The activist later told VOA on Skype that the agents did not care where the money came from.

“They were all eager to proceed. Even when I was telling them that the money was meant for the procurement⁸ of drugs (medicines) and I stole the money, and obviously some sick people were deprived of health care. And they could not care less.”

Mr. Borisovich says the real estate agents all suggested he buy the properties through overseas companies to hide the identity of the buyer. He says one agent proposed he use the relaxed tax laws of Cyprus and the British dependency of Jersey⁹ to create a trust. The agent said this legal agreement then could be used to set up what investigators¹⁰ call a “shell company.”

“And this particular agent was volunteering to put us in front of Jersey financiers to put the trust together, and a Cypriot lawyer to put everything else together.”

The British government says foreign companies own $191 billion worth of property in Britain. Prime Minister David Cameron has said that most are legal businesses. But he admitted some are not.

“We need to stop corrupt² officials or organized criminals using anonymous¹¹ shell companies to invest their ill-gotten gains in London property without being tracked down.”

Justin Urquhart Stewart works at Seven Investment Management. The company helps people invest money. He says the British government has known about the money-laundering problems for years.

“This is dirty money, coming from crime, maybe coming from terrorism, so this needs to be dealt with now.”

British law says real estate agents must tell officials if they believe the money being used to buy property comes from criminal activities. But many agents say they should not be expected to know the source of money, especially when buyers are using complex methods to hide fraud.

Words in This Story

money laundering – v. to put money from illegal activities into a business or to buy goods or property in order to hide where it really came from

proceed – v. to continue to do something; to take action

procurement – n. the act of getting (something)

deprived (someone) of (something)– phrasal verb. to take something away from someone or something; to not let (someone or something) have something

shell company – n. a company that exists but does not actually do any business or have any assets (materials, possessions, etc.)

relaxed – adj. not carefully controlled; eased

anonymous – adj. not named or identified

ill-gotten gains – idiomatic¹² phrase illegally-earned money or assets

tracked down – phrasal verb. investigated, discovered or found

fraud – n. the crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

3 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

5 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

9 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

12 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。