UK and Russian money
Sadly, this topic doesn’t seem to want to die. PoliticoEU noted that even though when the war in Ukraine began and there were very large sanctions against Russian oligarchs, whose money was considered to come from corrupt and sanctions actions, were still being defended by prestigious law firms in the UK. This has still continued over the past three years, and even though there are financial disincentives, there are many law firms working in this area. “For those with the stomach for it, however, there is still a market for defending sanctioned individuals from litigation, helping them launch their own cases, and attempting to get them removed from the government’s sanctions list.”
Why is this important? For many years, UK has been a place where oligarchs and kleptocrats could come and launder their money, which came from corrupt actions in their own countries, without any question or restraint. Over the years, laws have been passed so that there would be significant fines against those who support corrupt business practices. This has limited some actions, and with sanctions as a part of this, there have been fewer law firms providing services to such malevolent clients. But it looks like there is a movement to restart support for oligarchs and kleptocrats, with the courts looking away. This is appalling, and there should be greater and more serious enforcement. Unfortunately, the laws are weak, and it looks like there should be additional actions, such as criminal measures and sanctions. Lawyers should be held to higher standards, and if they can’t hold themselves to a higher moral and legal standard, then the government should make supporting kleptocrats clearly illegal, not punishing them merely financially, which hasn’t worked and continues not to work.
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