London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 11, 2025

Luxury London homes still used to launder illicit funds, says report

Luxury London homes still used to launder illicit funds, says report

Luxury London homes are an “attractive method to launder illicit funds”, a government report has said as the National Crime Agency steps up its McMafia-style “dirty money” investigations into suspect funds flooding into the country.
The national risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2020 has upgraded the risk level for the sector, saying: “Corrupt foreign elites continue to be attracted to the UK property market, especially in London, to disguise their corruption proceeds.”

The report, put together by the Treasury and the Home Office, said law enforcement agencies had seen increased overseas buyers and cash flows into the UK property market. “The high amounts of money that can be moved in one transaction and the appreciation in value, along with the enhanced lifestyle, makes them very attractive to criminals,” the report said.

Expensive London homes, known in the industry as super prime properties, have long been popular with overseas buyers, including those who have wished to conceal their identities and source of their wealth.

The National Crime Agency has expanded its use of unexplained wealth orders to freeze several multimillion pound homes in the capital while it investigates how the money used to buy them was obtained. In one case, a £50m home overlooking Hyde Park was seized from a Pakistani tycoon.

“Money-laundering cases involving the ownership of property by overseas individuals and companies are inherently complex, and their greater occurrence has increased investigative resource constraints,” the report said. “This coupled with a greater understanding of abuse in the sector has led to an increased risk score.”

Estate agents had their risk upgraded from low to medium and there were signs that some in the market for high-end homes were failing to comply with rules.

Half of the estate agents advertising properties for sale at £5m failed to registered with HM Revenue and Customs for anti-money-laundering supervision in 2019 or had failed to pay their annual fees for this. Even among firms that had registered, HMRC found not all had sufficient training in place for staff.

The Treasury report, which is a regular review of the risks associated with financial transactions, said the use of complex systems of shell companies registered overseas in secrecy jurisdictions obscured ownership and made it hard to find out where the money really came from.

The number of suspicious activity reports, a signal of concern about a transaction, that estate agents filed increased by 21% between 2017 and 2018 to 861, the report said.

Jerry Walters, the managing director of FCS Compliance, an anti-money-laundering business owned by the property firm LonRes, said the report was “pretty damning but not wholly surprising”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
×