Yesterday, the UK Foreign Office announced new sanctions against well-known corrupt individuals and their accomplices. This is the first step in a large-scale campaign by the new Foreign Secretary David Lammy to combat corruption and illegal financial flows.
The sanctions targeted Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, who siphoned off hundreds of millions of pounds from Ukraine's economy through corrupt schemes. In the UK, Firtash concealed illegally acquired funds through real estate investments, including a plot of the former Brompton Road tube station. The restrictions also affected his wife Lada Firtash and financier Denys Gorbunenko.
The sanctions list also included one of Latvia's richest people, Aivars Lembergs, who, according to the British government, abused his political position for bribery and money laundering. Lembergs tried to hide funds through investment funds registered in the name of his daughter Liga Lemberga, who was also sanctioned.
Restrictions were imposed on the daughter of the former president of Angola, Isabel dos Santos, who systematically used her official powers to embezzle national wealth. She appropriated at least £350 million, depriving Angola of development funds. Her partner Paola Oliveira and financial director Sardju Raikundalia, who helped conceal the illegal income, were also sanctioned.
These measures are aimed at protecting the British economy and democracy from the influence of corruption, as well as creating more challenging conditions for operations by kleptocrats and their accomplices, according to a statement from the UK Foreign Office.