Ben Cowdock

Authorities sound alarm on new money laundering threats The latest National Money Laundering Risk Assessment finds up to £10 billion in illicit flows through UK property each year

🆕 BLOG 🆕

Up to £10 billion could be laundered through UK property each year, according to the latest government risk assessment.

From opaque trusts to crypto schemes, criminals are finding new ways to hide dirty money.

Read more ⤵️
www.transparency.org.uk/news/authori...

Bangladeshis linked to Hasina regime appear to have made UK property transactions in past year Call for asset freezes after figures under investigation in Dhaka employed services of UK law firms and consultants

New investigation from @transparencyuk.bsky.social and @theguardian.com finds several Bangladeshis linked Hasina's regime - now under investigation by authorities there - appear to have either sold, transferred or refinanced UK property since the revolution began. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

NCA freezes £90m of London property linked to former Bangladesh regime Two men linked to Sheikh Hasina prevented from selling properties, including apartments in Grosvenor Square

🗣️ "We urge UK law enforcement to continue their inquiries and to freeze all suspect assets without delay."

With the NCA freezing millions in assets from Bangladesh's former regime, @duncanhames.bsky.social urges UK authorities to freeze more suspect assets.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Trust Issues: Tackling the final frontier in secret property ownership

Full analysis can be found here, including diagrams to help unpack exactly how trusts are still preventing us from finding out who owns property here. www.transparency.org.uk/news/trust-i...

At least £64bn of property in England and Wales hidden behind opaque trusts Campaigners say secretive ownership structures are becoming the ‘go-to vehicle for kleptocrats’

Guardian coverage here of new analysis by @transparencyuk.bsky.social on the use of trusts to hide the ownership of property. Our research found £2.5bn worth of real estate bought with suspicious wealth and held by trusts. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

The slow evolution of Companies House reform Despite promising changes, criminals can continue exploiting gaps in the UK's company registration system.

📝 BLOG

Is this the end for Adolf Tooth Fairy Hitler?

Companies House can now reject suspicious filings, but 65,000 companies are still breaking beneficial ownership rules.

Read our latest blog on the progress and gaps in UK company law reform. ⤵️

www.transparency.org.uk/news/slow-ev...

Muirhouse, SLPs and the King of Fraud How Scottish Limited Partnerships (SLPs) linked to global fraud, money laundering, and sanctioned individuals are hiding in plain sight, from Muirhouse flats to Tesco-adjacent offices.

Great story highlighting the loopholes and oversight issues that make Scottish Limited Partnerships attractive to crooks. Featuring the "King of Fraud" and a company owner that is in fact, no longer alive. theferret.scot/muirhouse-sl...

The Economic Consequences of State Capture Oligarchs are warping markets and corrupting economies around the world.

I have a new piece out in Foreign Affairs on how #statecapture ruins economies and livelihoods...

www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

The slow evolution of Companies House reform Despite promising changes, criminals can continue exploiting gaps in the UK's company registration system.

Is this the beginning of the end for 'Adolf Tooth Fairy Hitler'? Hopefully... from @bcowdock.bsky.social @transparencyuk.bsky.social www.transparency.org.uk/news/slow-ev...

The slow evolution of Companies House reform Despite promising changes, criminals can continue exploiting gaps in the UK's company registration system.

18 months on from landmark Companies House legislation and it's looking more like evolution than revolution. Some solid progress already achieved, but a long way still to go. www.transparency.org.uk/news/slow-ev...

MPs think they may have been targets of ‘disinformation’ over Bangladesh inquiry Group received emails about Ahsan Mansur, the central bank official investigating money laundering allegations

Exc: MPs sound alarm over "disinformation" articles written by fake journalists.

The target was Ahsan Mansur, who is seeking UK help tracing assets allegedly stolen from Bangladesh under the regime of Sheikh Hasina and laundered into British property.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

On Wednesday we published an interactive map showing the tens of thousands of UK companies hiding their beneficial owner. It's now updated - with filters and search functions.

In this thread I use it to uncover a truly shocking and unexpected case of hidden ownership.

🗣️ "There'll be undoubtedly LLPs being used in this kind of activity. They're being used either directly to send goods to Russia... as well as to circumvent sanctions"

@liambyrnemp.bsky.social quizzes @bcowdock.bsky.social on if LLPs registered with Companies House are being used to evade sanctions

🗣️ "This has made them really attractive to money launderers, crooks and sanctioned individuals."

This afternoon @bcowdock.bsky.social gave evidence to the Business and Trade Committee and explained why Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) are so attractive for those seeking to hide illicit wealth.

Huge win! Government announces plan to open up Land Registry This post is by Guy Shrubsole. Today the UK Government has announced plans to open up the Land Registry – which, if delivered, will finally reveal more about who owns land in England and Wale…

Huge win! Government announces plans to open up the Land Registry.

If delivered, will finally reveal more about who owns land in England and Wales.

Read my blog post for more details & how you can write to the Minister to make sure this now happens:

whoownsengland.org/2025/03/06/h...

🧵1/

The Bangladeshi politician who built a shadowy global property empire Saifuzzaman Chowdhury and his family bought 482 properties overseas costing $295mn. The new government wants some of that money back

Big questions to answer for the service providers in the UK who facilitated these purchases. www.ft.com/content/ec75...

If you're a US investigator whose work on Russian oligarchs and global kleptocrats just got shut down, consider reaching out to OCCRP.

Me (Signal): cakrawala.99

occrp.org

A smokescreen for secrecy Why the British Virgin Island’s corporate register reform plans fall flat

The BVI has unveiled its plans to make company ownership more transparent. Unfortunately these plans would do very little to stop the money laundering that happens there on an industrial scale and may even put users of the new system in danger. Read more here: www.transparency.org.uk/news/smokesc...

Clubs being owned by opaque firms presents a major risk. When added to the world of fixers, enablers and questionable sponsors it becomes clear that football clubs are vulnerable to those with suspect wealth to hide. See also: www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/... and josimarfootball.com/2025/01/03/8...

What happens when an FOI is selected for special treatment: intel gathering and obfuscation Journalists often get the feeling that their FOI is being treated differently. It may be something which should be straightforward that suddenly takes months. It might be getting a phone call from …

It took me nearly two years to report on Suella Braverman's use of private email accounts in government.

I've obtained some of the internal government emails around my FOIs, showing attempts at obfuscation and the request by an official to "gather intel" on me.

relightmyfoia.blog/2025/01/20/w...

Revealed: Prince Andrew board member advised Chinese Communist Party Board members of Pitch@Palace China included a former adviser to the Communist Party and the founder of a tech firm accused of helping to persecute the Uighurs

🗣️ "These findings should serve as a reminder to all who serve a public role to carry out thorough due diligence on who they associate with."

@bcowdock.bsky.social spoke to the @thetimes.com about the importance of due diligence for senior figures in public life.

www.thetimes.com/uk/article/r...

Revealed: Prince Andrew board member advised the CCP Board members of Pitch@Palace China included a former adviser to the Communist Party and the founder of a tech firm accused of helping to persecute the Uighurs

The board of the Duke of York’s Chinese enterprise included two businessmen investigated in China over financial misconduct allegations, the founder of a company sanctioned in the US on human rights grounds and a former Communist Party official, The Times can reveal

www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-fam...

Luxury London Properties Linked to Family of Azerbaijan's President Are Hidden Behind an Offshore Trust The family and associates of Azerbaijani strongman Ilham Aliyev acquired U.K. real estate worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Are they still holding onto their property empire? Despite new transpar...

Who owns London’s luxury real estate? Sometimes there's no way to know.

The family of Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev held properties in the British capital worth millions of dollars. Do they still own them?

We can't tell. They’re hidden behind a secretive offshore trust.

Our latest story🧵👇

Luxury London Properties Linked to Family of Azerbaijan's President Are Hidden Behind an Offshore Trust The family and associates of Azerbaijani strongman Ilham Aliyev acquired U.K. real estate worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Are they still holding onto their property empire? Despite new transpar...

NEW: It’s an arms race with criminals and the corrupt. If you get rid of offshores to hide bad actor ownership of properties, you end up with trusts. See our latest.

*ruling family 🤦‍♂️

Luxury London Properties Linked to Family of Azerbaijan's President Are Hidden Behind an Offshore Trust The family and associates of Azerbaijani strongman Ilham Aliyev acquired U.K. real estate worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Are they still holding onto their property empire? Despite new transpar...

New analysis here by @occrp.org and @transparencyuk.bsky.social on overseas companies used by Azerbaijan's ruling to hold interests in UK property. We found the familiar problem of trusts hiding full information on those behind their multi-million pound property empire. www.occrp.org/en/investiga...

Money trail: questions over deposed Bangladeshi elite’s £400m UK property empire Associates of former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina have spent millions buying up top-flight property assets in the UK

With news that Bangaldesh's Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating City minister Tulip Siddiq, here is our investigation into London's links to alleged corruption involving the former Bangladesh elite, under the regime ruled by Siddiq's aunt.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

UK Companies House nerds will be pleased to see Barbara Kahan appeared briefly as a director of now sanctioned TGR Corporate Concierge Limited, it's always the ones you least suspect.... www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

She Was a Russian Socialite and Influencer. Cops Say She’s a Crypto Laundering Kingpin Western authorities say they’ve identified a network that found a new way to clean drug gangs’ dirty cash. WIRED gained exclusive access to the investigation.

Excellent work by the NCA and partners to uncover this, but there's much more to do. Russia has shown a willingness to work with organised crime and money launderers worldwide to evade and avoid sanctions. www.wired.com/story/operat...

Anger over Scots company's whisky deal with Russia A Scottish company has struck a major deal for its whisky to be bottled near Moscow.

For more than a year I’ve been trying to figure out how tens of millions of pounds worth of both bottled and bulk whisky ends up in Putin’s Russia. We have *some* answers but do DM if you can help find out more. 🧵 www.heraldscotland.com/news/2475850...