Social:Kleptocracy tour

From HandWiki

Kleptocracy tour refers to tours of cities where financial flows[1] from kleptocracies are being used to purchase residential property as a means of money-laundering.[2]

The concept was founded by anti-corruption campaigners, started in London in February, 2016 and was modelled on the 'Beverly Hills-type tours of the homes of the stars'.[3] The first tour focussed on properties owned by Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh klepto-oligarchs[4] congruent with the founders original area of expertise and awareness. The tour garnered widespread press coverage [5][6][7] and sparked strong interest in subsequent tours in London and abroad.

The tours began in early February 2016,[8] after the campaign for a public registry documenting the ultimate beneficial owners of London's offshore companies was rejected.[9] They are organised by the campaign group ClampK which highlights both the local economic distortions [10] caused by these capital inflows and the implicit corruption implied by facilitating this money-laundering by foreign kleptocrats. The tour is planned for expansion in Miami and New York City .[9]

See also

  • City Sightseeing
  • Real estate in the United Kingdom

References

  1. Jamie McGeever (10 March 2015). "UK draws billions in unrecorded inflows, much from Russia". Reuters. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-markets-capital-flows-deutsche-idUKKBN0M61FM20150310. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 
  2. "Private Eye Magazine | Official Site - the UK's number one best-selling news and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop". http://www.private-eye.co.uk/registry. 
  3. Henry Williams (9 February 2016). "Move over Royal Family. London's oligarchs are the new tourist attraction". The Spectator. http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/move-over-royal-family-londons-oligarchs-are-the-new-tourist-attraction/. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 
  4. Sally Hayden (5 February 2016). "On Board the Russian Dissidents' 'Kleptocracy' Bus". Vice News. https://news.vice.com/article/on-board-russian-dissidents-kleptocracy-bus. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 
  5. "Russians in London: Government in exile". The Economist. 12 February 2016. https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21692934-new-generation-migr-s-has-plans-homeland-they-never-wanted-flee-government. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 
  6. Luke Harding (5 February 2016). "Mega-rich homes tour puts spotlight on London's oligarchs". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/04/mega-rich-homes-tour-london-oligarchs-russia-alexei-navalny-putin. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 
  7. "London's newest sightseeing tour shows homes of Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs". Ukraine Today. 10 February 2016. http://uatoday.tv/society/london-s-newest-sightseeing-tour-shows-homes-of-russian-and-ukrainian-oligarchs-588220.html. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 
  8. David Brown (5 February 2016). "On the trail of suspicious money: it's the 'kleptocracy tour' of London". The Times. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4683161.ece. Retrieved 12 February 2016. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 "London's Latest Tourist Attraction: Russian Oligarchs". 26 March 2016. http://fortune.com/2016/03/26/london-oligarch-mansions-kleptocracy-tour/. Retrieved 12 April 2016. 
  10. Roman Borisovich (2 March 2016). "'Kleptocracy tours' expose state failure to stop dirty money buying up London". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/02/kleptocracy-tours-russia-ukraine-london. Retrieved 2 March 2016.