London estate agents caught on camera dealing with ‘corrupt’ Russian buyer

Channel 4 documentary shows agents in wealthy districts agreeing to continue with purchase to be made with ill-gotten gains from Russian health budget

Top estate agents in Britain’s wealthiest postcodes are willing to turn a blind eye to apparent money laundering by corrupt foreign buyers, according to an investigation by Channel 4.

In a documentary called From Russia With Cash, to be broadcast on Wednesday, two undercover reporters pose as an unscrupulous Russian government official called “Boris” and his mistress “Nastya” whom he wants to purchase an upmarket property in London for.

The couple – Russian anti-corruption campaigner Roman Borisovich and Ukrainian investigative reporter Natalia Sedletska – view five properties ranging in price from £3m to £15m, on the market with five different west London agents, in Kensington, Chelsea and Notting Hill.

Despite being made aware they are dealing with ill-gotten gains, the estate agents agree to continue with a potential purchase. In several instances the estate agents recommend law firms to help a buyer hide his identity.

One estate agent names a “very, very good lawyer … the last person I put them was another minister of a previous Soviet state” in a deal worth £10m.

The estate agents suggest that in the capital secretive purchases of multimillion pound houses are common. One claims that 80% or more of his transactions are with international, overseas-based buyers and “50 or 60%” of them are conducted in “various stages of anonymity … whether it be through a company or an offshore trust”.

Those caught on camera include estate agents from high street chain Winkworth, central London specialist Marsh & Parsons which advertises itself under the slogan “The Only Way is Ethics”, Domus Nova, Chard, and Bective Leslie Marsh which have been used by fashion designers and actors.

There has been increasing concern that billions of pounds of corruptly gained money has been laundered by criminals and foreign officials buying upmarket London properties through anonymous offshore front companies. Experts say the city is arguably the world capital of money laundering.

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To illuminate how the London property market was floating on dirty money, Channel 4 used covert filming and subterfuge. The sales pitches were all recorded using secret filming and cameras placed in adjacent houses to capture conversations.

Behind the deals, claims the documentary, lie easy profits for estate agents. If “Boris” had gone ahead with the purchases they stood to earn between £65,000 to £315,000 in commissions.

In the documentary “Boris” tells the estate agents he wants to purchase the property with money taken from the Russian government. He claims he is responsible for the procurement of medicines from the government’s health budget.

“I have a very small salary ,” he says. “Every contract brings a little bit to my pocket. Needless to say the money for this flat comes out of the government budget.”

“Boris” also says he needs the sale and ownership of the property set up so that it cannot be linked back to him, in case the Russian authorities find out and discover the amount “paid” is the same as the amount “taken” from the government.

He is shown saying: “If somebody finds out and links my name with my small salary, to a place in London … if the hole in the budget is ever discovered … if my name is linked to the hole, disaster. Discretion is the absolute priority. Nobody can see my name on any kind of list.”

Under laws brought in a decade ago, estate agents were required to submit “suspicious activity reports” to the National Crime Agency if they have concerns that the cash required to purchase the properties has been obtained through criminal means. To do otherwise, four QCs tell the programme, risks committing a criminal offence.

After watching the first estate agent agree that he has been in this situation before, where “people want to buy with a good deal of anonymity”, Donald Toon, director of the NCA’s economic crime command, said: “It could not have been clearer that the source of the money was absolutely not anything that was legitimate in any way.

“If they [the estate agents] have a suspicion that there may be money laundering going on, then they absolutely should be submitting a suspicious activity report.”

The flood of foreign buyers into the London housing market has raised eyebrows. Oliver Harvey, a foreign exchange specialist at Deutsche Bank, wrote in an influential City paper earlier this year that the UK had seen £1bn a month in unrecorded capital inflows – mainly from Russia – and much of that was going into the London property market. Henry told Channel 4 that a “pretty substantial chunk of it was dirty money”.

Robert Barrington from anti-corruption NGO Transparency International (TI) said the influx of corrupt cash was “stolen from the poorest and going into mansions in Mayfair. Is that the sort of society we want?”

In March, TI pointed out that more than 36,000 properties in London had been bought through hidden companies in offshore havens and, while a majority of those will have been kept secret for legitimate privacy purposes, vast numbers are thought to have been bought anonymously to hide stolen money.

TI’s research, which includes previously unreleased internal figures from the Metropolitan police proceeds of corruption unit, found that 75% of properties owned by people under criminal investigation for corruption were held through secret offshore companies.

The Guardian contacted all the estate agents named by Channel 4. Marsh & Parsons said: “We are aware of the scheduled Channel 4 programme and we wait to see what the content of this might be.”

In a statement Winkworth said it had been told of the allegations but had “yet to see the evidence ourselves”. It added: “However, given the seriousness of the allegations, we have commenced an investigation and await a final copy of the documentary before it can be concluded.

“We require our agents to be fully compliant with both legal requirements and estate agency best practice at all times. Winkworth has a longstanding reputation and seeks to uphold the highest of standards.”

Domus Nova did not respond to the Guardian but told Channel 4: “Our agent who attended the single viewing informed us that he strongly believed it to be a hoax.

“We recorded the viewing on our AML log, despite not having any ID information for the fake buyer, and requested that an offer was made through solicitors registered in England and Wales.

“No offer was made and therefore no transaction was in prospect. We therefore acted entirely appropriately and in accordance with AML regulations and our own internal procedures.”

The Guardian contacted Chard but it did not reply. However the company told Channel 4 that its estate agent had “discussed his concerns with a reputable firm of London solicitors and sought their advice”. It said: “Had a formal offer to purchase the property been made, the company’s anti-money laundering checks and procedures would have followed.”

Emails to Bective Leslie Marsh were not answered. The estate agent told the filmmakers: “We take this matter extremely seriously as we do all legislation for our industry, to which we are fully committed.

“As an agent operating in Chelsea, we have a diverse international clientele and encounter a whole range of requests, statements and assertions on a daily basis which we do our best to filter.

“Whilst all our vendors are subjected to money laundering checks prior to marketing, we do not conduct any due diligence on our buyers until there is a reasonable chance of a transaction. In this instance no formal offer was made so there was no requirement for our process to begin.”