London 'Global Capital of Money Laundering'

[5thHorseman]

Although it is fairly common knowledge that of all the financial centres, London is the dirtiest, it's still quite unreal what they get away with.

A snippet:

one of the most outrageous cases, that of James Ibori, former governor of the Delta State in Nigeria, who between 1999 and 2007, funnelled £200m of pounds of state money through British banks to fund an outrageously lavish lifestyle.

While many Nigerians went without basic education and social care, Ibori spent stolen loot
on a Bentley, private school fees for his children, properties in Hampstead, a fleet of armoured Range Rovers and dozens of gambling trips to Las Vegas.

Report by our finest satire mag, Private Eye, of which i am a subscriber. They've uncovered no end of great stories over the years.

This site is excellent btw. You should all favourite it. It's run by top journo's including those who published wikileaks data, minus the incriminating names(Assange you prick).

http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/201...aundering/

[cratehorus]

The regulation-free tax havens where stolen loot is stashed and the bankers who wash the money are still a long way from proper regulation

If not london it would be somehwere else, I hear Wyoming is the newest tax haven

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/28...85863.html

At a single address in this sleepy city of 60,000 people, more than 2,000 companies are registered. The building, 2710 Thomes Avenue, isn't a shimmering skyscraper filled with A-list corporations. It's a 1,700-square-foot brick house with a manicured lawn, a few blocks from the State Capitol.

Neighbors say they see little activity there besides regular mail deliveries and a woman who steps outside for smoke breaks. Inside, however, the walls of the main room are covered floor to ceiling with numbered mailboxes labeled as corporate "suites." A bulky copy machine sits in the kitchen. In the living room, a woman in a headset answers calls and sorts bushels of mail.

[MountOlympus]

Gotta love our IRS for being efficient and thorough. Heh.