One dictator daughter wey dey hustle two job as music star and diplomat don spend $240m (£200m) on properties from London to Hong Kong, according to one report.
Gulnara Karimova use UK companies to buy homes plus jet wit money she get through bribery and corruption, di Freedom For Eurasia study tok.
Di report add say accounting firms for London plus di British Virgin Islands bin act for UK companies wey get hand for di deals.
Di story don raise fresh doubts about di UK effort to tackle illegal wealth.
For long, pipo don accuse British authorities say e no dey do enough to stop criminals from overseas to dey use UK property launder money.
Di report say di ease wey Karimova take obtain UK property dey “concerning”.
No suggestion show say those wey dey act for di companies wey dey linked to her dey aware of any connection to her or di source of her money for don dey suspicious. No-one wey dey provide those services for UK don dey investigated or fined.
Who be Gulnara Karimova?
Tori bin go round one time say Gulnara Karimova go succeed her father, Islam Karimova wey rule Uzbekistan as president of di central Asian state from 1989 until im death for 2016. She bin appear for pop videos under di stage name “Googoosha”
She get jewellery company and she serve as ambassador to Spain.
But for 2014 she disappear from public view. Tori later comot say dem detain her on corruption charges wen her father still dey for power and dem sentence her for December 2017.
For 2019, dem sentence her go prison on top accuse say she breach di terms of her house arrest.
Prosecutors accuse her say she be part of one criminal group wey dey control assets of more dan $1bn (£760m) for 12 kontris, including UK, Russia and United Arab Emirates.
“Di Karimova case na one of di largest bribery and corruption cases of all time,” Tom Mayne tok, one of di researchers on di Freedom For Eurasia report and research fellow for di University of Oxford.
However, Karimova and her associates don already sell some of di property dem allegedly acquire wit corrupt funds.
She buy 14 properties for various kontris – report
Freedom For Eurasia research property and land registry records to identify at least 14 properties e say she buy before her arrest, wit allegedly suspicious funds, for various kontris, including UK, Switzerland, France, Dubai and Hong Kong.
Di report wey dem go publish on Tuesday 14 March, wit di title: Who Enabled the Uzbek Princess?, focus on five properties she buy in and around London, wey now worth an estimate of £50m – including three flats for Belgravia, just west of Buckingham Palace, one house for Mayfair and one £18m Surrey manor house wit a private boating lake.
Dem sell two of di Belgravia flats for 2013 before dem detain Karimova. For 2017, di Serious Fraud Office freeze di house for Mayfair, di Surrey mansion plus a third flat for Belgravia.
Freedom For Eurasia report also name firms for London plus di British Virgin Islands wey e claim dey use Karimova or associates to enable dem spend di proceeds of crime on di properties plus on private jetliner.
Karimova boyfriend, Rustam Madumarov, and odas wey dey alleged now to be her associates dey listed in official documents as di “beneficial owners” – one legal term for di pesin wey ultimately dey in control – of companies wey base for UK, Gibraltar and the British Virgin Islands. But di report say dem be just proxies for Karimova, wey use di firms to launder hundreds of millions of dollars.
Accountancy services for two UK companies wey dey linked to Karimova – Panally Ltd and Odenton Management Ltd – dey provided by SH Landes LLP, one firm formerly dey New Oxford Street in London.
For late July 2010, SH Landes bin seek to register or acquire anoda company. Di aim na to buy one private jet wey dey around $40m (£33m), and e gon name Madumarov as di beneficial owner. In fact, according to di report, na Karimova really dey behind di purchase.
Wen dem ask am dat time about di source of im funds, SH Landes reply say: “We believe say di question about im personal wealth no dey relevant for dis situation.”
Dis na because di money no be Madumarov provide di money to buy di jet out of im personal funds.
Di London-based firm bin later tok say part of Madumarov wealth come from a mobile phone company wey base for Uzbekistan, Uzdonrobita.
Pipo don already raise questions about company possible links to Karimova. As far back as 2004, one article for di Moscow Times bin allege say Karimova siphon some $20m out of Uzdunrobita using fraudulent invoices. One former adviser don also accuse Karimova of “racketeering”.
Because na high-value transaction wey dey linked to a high-risk jurisdiction, Uzbekistan, di report argue say SH Landes suppose don arrange “enhanced due diligence” – thorough background checks to ensure say di source of funds dey legitimate and no be from criminal activity.
SH Landes also submit di 2012 financial statements for Panally Ltd. Di report say for September 2013 one close associate of Karimova sign dem off: Gayane Avakyan, wen e be 30-year-old.
For di previous year, di BBC bin publish allegations say Avakyan na di registered beneficial owner of Takilant, one Gibraltar-registered company for di centre of “a high-level multi-million dollar fraud and corruption scandal for Uzbekistan”.
For inside one statement to thedi BBC, Steven Landes say: “SH Landes LLP no ever dey engaged by Gulnara Karimova. SH Landes LLP act on behalf of Rustam Madumarov.
“SH Landes LLP bin obtain due diligence on all dia clients and relevant regulatory authorities dey notified and kept appraised.”
Tom Mayne of Freedom For Eurasia say di apparent ease wey Karimova take manage to buy so much UK property dey concerning.
“E take di authorities until 2017 to do anything, years afta oda kontris don already freeze bank accounts and properties wey belong to her,” he add.
