Do Russian Oligarchs launder dirty cash in the English courts?

Experts say that dirty money can be laundered when oligarchs agree to sue each other in the English courts with the payment of damages being used to launder their funds. They can also arrange to bring cases against themselves using sham companies.

British lawyers and academics claim that there is “ample evidence” that they have attempted to manipulate the UK judicial system to wash ill-gotten gains and settle old scores. They accuse law firms and other City professionals of being “pin-striped enablers” of Russian manipulation.

In support of the above a Mr Foxall, a former academic at Oxford University and Queen’s University Belfast has also written a report  (published by the Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank) TITLED;

• Russian Kleptocracy and the Rule of Law: How the Kremlin Undermines European Judicial Systems.

Mr Foxall, says:

• “Commercial disputes in UK courts often involved Russian individuals the source of whose wealth is dubious, to say the least,”
• “And these disputes provide potential cover for a range of activities many of which have taken place elsewhere in Europe, including money laundering,”
• “Russian oligarchs may have used English courts to launder tens, possibly hundreds, of millions of pounds through various scams.”

Ben Emmerson, QC, who acted for Marina Litvinenko in the inquiry into the murder of her husband Alexander by Russian agents, said:

• “Many of the companies involved in [commercial] litigation nowadays are either Russian state-owned or owned by proxies of the Kremlin.”

The report supports concerns that have been building for several years in the legal profession that City lawyers

• “are witting or unwitting participants in this type of scam”.

But, Mr Foxall said,

• “It is questionable whether they are taking their obligations as seriously as they might”.

Case study: Dubious charge earns rebuke

The Henry Jackson Society report highlights what it claims is the use by Russian officials of dubious criminal charges to influence rulings in Britain.  It focuses on a 2015 case when a Russian businessman brought two claims in the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).

• He alleged that a Kremlin-connected oligarch had conspired with local Moscow city officials to take over his stake in a property development, an allegation that the oligarch denies.

• The businessman, who had fled the country, also claimed that he faced the threat of criminal prosecution if he did not sign over the rights to his $250 million investment in the development.

• In response the Russians charged the exiled businessman in absentia with fraud after a complaint by a rival.

In its report the think tank criticises the arbitration court for appearing not to have taken into account that the Russian investigation was conducted by officials sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act in the US, which relates to human rights offenders.

Analysis

Corrupt litigants can launder money through English courts in two main ways, experts say.

• “It is simple enough for any Russian oligarch to bring proceedings through a company registered in a territory where the beneficial owner is concealed,” claimed Marius Nasta, chief executive of Redress Solutions, a third-party funder of litigation.

A corrupt oligarch could concede a case brought against him by an offshore company in which he holds all the shares.

• “He now has an English court judgment that allows him to remit money lawfully to the offshore company,” Mr Nasta said.
•  “If the tax or monetary authorities inquire the reason for his sending a large sum to, for example, the British Virgin Islands, he can produce a judgment showing that he had no choice.”

There has been a significant increase in cases offered to funders that involve Russian claimants wishing to sue Russian defendants.

Mr Foxall explained another method:

• “Two individuals agreeing in advance that one would bring a breach of contract charges against the other.
• Lawyers are instructed, proceedings are initiated, and after an expensive judicial process, the claimant wins.
• Damages are awarded by the court, and dirty funds are used to pay.
• Those funds, precisely because they are awarded as a court settlement, are now clean — whatever their provenance.”

The above was sourced from an article by Jonathan Ames, Legal Editor at the Time (UK) who reported on January 11, 2020, Corrupt Russian oligarchs are bringing lawsuits in English courts to launder hundreds of millions of pounds in dirty money, research reveals.

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