Wikipedia Commons / Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos
By Gary Raynaldo – DIPLOMATIC TIMES
The British government announced Thursday it has sanctioned three “notorious kleptocrats” including Angolan billionaire Isabel Dos Santos in a crackdown on “dirty money” laundered into the UK. Dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s former president, is accused of embezzling at least £350 million from her oil-rich nation. It also sanctioned Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch with close links to Vladimir Putin, who is accused of hiding tens of millions of pounds of “ill-gotten gains” in the UK property market, and Aivars Lembergs, one of Latvia’s richest people, accused of abusing his political position to commit bribery and money laundering. In addition to sanctions, the UK imposed asset freezes and travel bans on the kleptocrats. London is widely known as the world’s money laundering capital. It is estimated that nearly 40% of the dirty money in the world flows through the City of London. The dirty money crackdown is being led by Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
“I committed to taking on kleptocrats and the dirty money that empowers them when I became Foreign Secretary and these sanctions mark the first step in delivering this ambition. The tide is turning. The golden age of money laundering is over.”
-Foreign Secretary David Lammy
The UK also sanctioned Dos Santos’ friend and business partner Paula Oliveira, and her Chief Financial Officer Sarju Raikundali, “both of whom helped her funnel Angola’s national wealth for her own benefit,” the government said. Dos Santos, once dubbed as Africa’s richest woman, has been subject to an Interpol Red Notice since November 2022. Last month she lost a case at the Court of Appeal regarding her worldwide asset freeze. Firtash’s wife Lada Firtash has also been sanctioned. The UK said she profited from his “corruption” and holds UK assets on his behalf.
The designations are made under the UK’s Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 202.
