Owners of offshore shell companies that hold £170bn of British real estate are to be unmasked in a crackdown on money laundering and tax evasion, according to The Times.
Owning property through offshore accounts is not illegal but can facilitate criminals hiding taxable assets as only the company name appears on documents.
The newspaper reports that Nigerian governor James Ibori, head of Kazakhstan’s secret police Rkhat Aliyev, and Said Gaddafi, son of the Libyan dictator, are among those who have used offshore vehicles to purchase London property.
A government consultation document seen by The Times outlines how property can provide a “convenient vehicle for hiding the proceeds of crime” and proposes offshore companies buying UK assets should reveal people with “significant control” over their operations.
The information would be displayed on a publicly available register, with only those foreign companies listed on the register permitted to purchase property.
It is being discussed whether to apply this to 100,000 existing offshore companies as well as new ones.
From June, all UK incorporated companies must reveal their beneficial owners to Companies House.
Prime minister David Cameron is expected to announce further details of the proposal at an anti-corruption summit that he is hosting in London next month.
Under separate Home Office proposals, suspected money launderers face having money and assets confiscated if they are unable to prove their legitimacy, or if they fail to co-operate with investigations.
Home secretary Theresa May is to start a consultation on new “unexplained wealth orders” and powers allowing authorities to label companies which are a “money laundering concern”, meaning banks, solicitors and accountants could take exceptional measures while dealing with them.
The home secretary is also proposing a new “illicit enrichment” offence against elected officials who have a “significant and inexplicable” increase in their assets.
Attempts to seize the criminal proceeds have previously been unsuccessful. National Audit Office figures show that only £155m was collected through confiscation orders last year out of a total outstanding debt of £1.16bn.
More than £180m of property has been placed under criminal investigation since 2004, with offshore vehicles used in more than three-quarters of cases to help obscure the real owners.
What does the government crackdown mean?>>
Comment: Only guilty need fear owners register >>
Briefing: UK’s overseas ownership revealed >>
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