The United Kingdom intends to take action against Russian capital of dubious origin, Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said.
According to Williamson, there are already warrants for the arrest of Russian finances of doubtful origin, for which a new law has recently begun to operate in the UK. The British goal is to ensure that any property attained by unknown means is registered, and for this, the necessary steps are being taken.
He promised that the government in the coming weeks and months would work very diligently and that these problems would be solved.
In his view, the goal of the Russian president is to "split the UK and its allies, but Estonia and many other states have shown that this is impossible," Sputnik reported.
Known as unexplained wealth orders, the new investigative powers allow British law enforcement to demand that any person holding property or assets worth more than £50,000 ($71,000) in the UK explain the origin of their wealth. After the High Court issues an order, the respondent is required to explain the extent of their interest in the specified property and how it was obtained - shifting the burden of proof from investigators to suspects.
A failure to comply can spark attempts to seize it under civil proceedings, on the assumption it has been obtained through unlawful conduct. Providing false or misleading information in response can also be punished with up to two years’ imprisonment.
Associate Professor of European law at the MGIMO university, Nikolai Topornin, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the West is deliberately trying to aggravate contacts with Russia. "The fact that the United Kingdom expelled 23 Russian diplomats shows that our diplomatic relations have fallen to a very low level," he said.
"Undoubtedly, today the ball is the court of the EU and the US, and they must show what they want from our relations." If they want friendship and good-neighborly cooperation, we are open and welcome such relations. But for now we only see that the West seeks to worsen our relations, moreover, isolate Russia from Western Europe and the Euro-Atlantic partnership. It worries us very much, because historically Russia has always been very closely connected with Europe, and we will always resist attempts to break the centuries-old Russian-European ties. Today's relations with the EU do not suit us, and we want to improve them, although, unfortunately, our powers are limited," Nikolai Topornin added.
