IT’S been dubbed Londongrad, for years the laundromat of choice for Vladimir Putin and his cronies, enabling them to clean their dodgy Russian money through the UK capital.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian oligarchs exported their ill-gotten gains to our shores because their funds could be easily protected here.

Helped by a cottage industry of lawyers and PR professionals, they have become a firm part of the UK’s glitzy social scene, attending top sporting and charity events.

It’s been estimated property worth more than £1.5bn has been financed with Russian “dirty money”.

So entrenched has it become in our system that in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea, the UK Government sought to water down sanctions to avoid “closing London’s financial centre to Russians” and thus damaging the economy.

A year later, David Cameron, the then PM, insisted there was “no place for dirty money in Britain” but it wasn’t until 2018 so-called “unexplained wealth orders” were introduced to target suspicious money.

Yet they have hardly been used as court costs have risen because the oligarchs have used top-notch lawyers to defend their interests.

William Browder, the leading financier, who has campaigned against the Kremlin’s international reach since the murder of his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, 10 years ago, noted: “The reason London continues to be a haven is that there’s effectively no enforcement of any rules. British law enforcement is a laughing stock.”

In 2018, the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published its Moscow Gold report, which found, despite the outrage over the Salisbury poisonings, Putin and his chums were continuing to use London as a base for their “corrupt assets”.

Given the continuing concern, it has now reopened its inquiry. Chairman Tom Tugendhat has accused the Russian President of running a “mafia-like organisation” and urged UK ministers to stop turning a “blind eye” to dirty Russian money.

“Its poison is seeping deeper into our system. For decades, Russian companies have used our markets to raise money, equities and debt, to finance the Kremlin. We’ve done nothing to stop it.

“Instead, we’ve threatened vague sanctions on individuals whose assets are hidden and have more than enough to accept losing some now and again. If we’re serious, we have to choose to act.”

Earlier this month, Nicola Sturgeon urged Johnson to “finally take action” on Russian dirty money, saying: “He must recognise his government and his party have enabled this situation.”

This week, Keir Starmer echoed the First Minister’s point and insisted any donation with a Putin link should be looked at “very, very carefully”.

The Labour leader added: “That means returning the millions of pounds of Russian-linked cash that has been donated to the Tories and their MPs since he became prime minister and reversing his plans to allow unlimited donations from abroad.”

It is claimed the Tories have received £2m from Russia-linked donors since Johnson became PM in 2019. But party HQ insists all its donations are above board, pointing out gifts from foreigners are illegal.

The Government’s latest legislative effort to crack down on Russian dirty money, the Economic Crime Bill, aims to create greater transparency around offshore companies holding British property, beef up the unexplained wealth orders and reform how businesses are registered at Companies House.

However, it has been delayed; much to the dismay of senior Conservatives themselves.

Ex-Treasury minister Lord Agnew, who dramatically resigned over the lack of Government effort on tackling fraud, denounced the “foolish” decision to kill the bill for this parliamentary session.

This week, the PM hit back, suggesting the UK had done a “huge amount” to stem illicit foreign cash and insisting the new legislation would strengthen measures against “potential ill-gotten Russian money”.

He signalled the bill would be brought forward in the next Queen’s Speech but this is not due until later in the year.

Under mounting pressure, Priti Patel has now acted and yesterday scrapped Britain’s so-called “golden visa” scheme with “immediate effect” to try to halt the flow of Russian dirty money into Britain.

The fast-track scheme enabled rich foreigners, prepared to invest a minimum of £2 million into the UK, a quick route to settle here and obtain citizenship.

Analysis of official figures showed, between July 2008 and March 2020, of the 12,175 golden visas almost 4,000 were issued to Chinese applicants and nearly 2,500 to Russian ones.

In 2015, the checks were strengthened. Applicants had to provide audits of their business and financial interests to stop people coming to Britain with illegally obtained cash. But, clearly, it wasn’t enough.

The Home Secretary talked of “stopping corrupt elites, who threaten our national security and push dirty money around our cities”.

She added the forthcoming legislation plus a fraud action plan would also form part of a renewed crackdown “on people abusing our financial institutions and better protect the taxpayer”.

As the Ukraine situation continues to look grim, Liz Truss was in Kyiv, urging Moscow to “step back from the brink” and stressing the diplomatic window remained open.

The Foreign Secretary warned invasion would mean “severe economic costs and pariah status” for Russia.

Yet this week, Viktor Tatarintsev, the Russian ambassador to Sweden, insisted, bluntly, Putin did “not give a s**t” about Western sanctions.

Indeed, Washington seems deeply concerned the Londongrad laundromat will simply keep spinning even if tougher sanctions are imposed.

A US administration source told The Times: “The fear is Russian money is so entrenched in London now that the opportunity to use it as leverage against Putin could be lost.

“Biden is talking about sanctioning Putin himself but that can only be symbolic. Putin doesn’t hold his money abroad, it is all in the kleptocrats’ names and a hell of a lot of it is sitting in houses in Knightsbridge and Belgravia right under your Government’s noses.”

Perhaps it will come as no surprise that there is a Russian crime comedy TV series called Londongrad, which apparently is the first of its kind to be actually shot in the UK capital. Where else?

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