Yvette Cooper vows to tackle ‘soiled cash’ funding crime in UK and warfare in Ukraine
The Foreign Secretary warned dodgy funds were being used to fuel not just crime in the UK, but also Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and it needed an international effort to stop it
Yvette Cooper has vowed to take on corruption all over the world as the UK prepares to host a major summit cracking down on “dirty money”.
The Foreign Secretary warned dodgy funds were being used to fuel not just crime in the UK, but also Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and explained it needed an international effort to stamp it out.
The event will take place in June next year, and comes with the UK set to publish its landmark Anti-Corruption Strategy on Monday.
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Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, Ms Cooper said: “Dirty money fuels crime on the streets of the UK and drives conflict and instability overseas. It’s largely invisible, but the damage is there for all to see.
“ People smuggling gangs stashing the profits of their despicable trade. Kleptocrats buying up property to launder their ill-gotten gains – and driving up house prices sky high as they do so. Profits from the illicit trade in gold fuelling Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine and the dreadful conflict in Sudan.
“The Summit will agree tough international action on three means through which dirty money is moved: illicit gold, which is financing Russia’s war in Ukraine; property, used by criminals and kleptocrats to hide cash; and crypto-assets, increasingly exploited by people smugglers to stash away their profits.
“This government is committed to turning the tide.”
Taking place at Lancaster House in London over two days from 23-24 June, the Illicit Finance Summit will bring together governments from all over the world, civil society organisations, and private sector representatives, such as major banks, to tackle flows of dirty money around the world. There will also be new funding for investigative journalists exposing corruption.
The £3 million package will support Transparency International, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC) to expose how corrupt and criminal actors amass illicit wealth and exploit the international financial system.
Last week, the OCCRP revealed how Balkan drug traffickers were smuggling cocaine to Europe using shipments of bananas from the family firm of the Ecuadorian president, and earlier this year they exposed a scam network that fleeced more than £200 million from victims in the UK and abroad.
