‘No place for dirty money’: UK vows to crackdown on shady Russian cash

Britain will introduce new legislation on Tuesday to crack down on “dirty money” and corrupt elites as it ramps up its campaign to hit Russian finance over Ukraine.

The move comes after the government took flak over its response to date to choke off the years-long flow of rich Russians’ hot cash into the United Kingdom, where it has infiltrated financial and property markets.

Moscow’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine has brought a long-debated issue to a head, moving London to introduce a “Register of Overseas Entities” to crack down on money laundering by foreign criminals.

The new register will require anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities and ultimate “beneficial owner,” meaning they can no longer hide behind shell companies as Britain sets “a new global standard for transparency.”

Failure to comply could bring punishment of up to five years in prison.

“There is no place for dirty money in the UK,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“We are going faster and harder to tear back the facade that those supporting Putin’s campaign of destruction have been hiding behind for so long.”

“Those backing Putin have been put on notice — there will be nowhere to hide your ill-gotten gains,” Johnson said.

Russian billionaires have in recent decades acquired extensive assets — notably in real estate — in some of London’s swankiest districts, leading to the city earning the nickname “Londongrad” and to NGOs and British officials sounding the alarm.

Four years ago, even before the emergence of the Ukraine crisis, Britain’s National Crime Agency estimated Russians were laundering hundreds of billions of pounds through the country every year.

The British government has already frozen the assets of Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as sanctioning a raft of Russian businessmen and banks.