The United States and Britain on Monday imposed further sanctions on Russia over alleged illegal gold trade. The United Kingdom said that by him Russian President Vladimir Putin is financing the war in Ukraine and supports corruption. TASR informs based on a Reuters report.
The British government has frozen the assets of five people as a result of the allegations. According to her, four of them were involved in gold smuggling, while one bought Russian gold worth around 300 million euros and thus ensured income for the Russian government.
In this regard, the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the illegal trade in gold “supports corruption, undermines the rule of law a supports the violation of human rights concerning, for example, child labor”. The Russian Embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Britain, along with other major Western states banned the import of new Russian gold after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Moscow has since found other markets to sell its gold.
Working with the US, Britain announced last week that they had succeeded disrupt the worldwide network already money laundering and gold smuggling used by wealthy Russians to circumvent sanctions. The US imposed on Monday sanctions on dozens of companies and individuals, who they said were involved in this network based in Zimbabwe. This was reported by the United States Treasury Department.
Sanctions are aimed at Kenyan businessman Kamlesh Pattni, who, according to the US Department, befriended former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and carried out machinations with the sale of mineral resources. Pattni’s network allegedly included entities in several countries including United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Kyrgyzstan.
