By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
Labour Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan has claimed that the Government’s abject failure in dealing with UK-administered tax havens has meant that the super wealthy can launder money, with impunity.
Allowing the laundering of money through London has ramped up house prices as the dodgy money is invested in bricks and mortar in an attempt to clean up the cash.
Khan claims said:“My worry is London is the world’s capital for money laundering and we have people from around the world laundering money through London’s property market leading to hyper inflation in property.
“What possible reason could there be to buy a property using an offshore company?
“What possible reason could there be to buy a property from a tax haven? And that’s why what the government needs to do is ensure there’s transparency in relation to property purchases in London.”
Khan believes that he does not have the power to stop the laundering if he becomes mayor, but the Chancellor and the PM could step in to sort out this murky world.
Khan said “The Mayor of New York has the powers to make transactions transparent at the moment I don’t have that power.
“So I am calling on David Cameron and George Osborne to make sure there is transparency on property transactions.
“It’s unacceptable and David Cameron had the audacity to go to Singapore last year and the lecture them on the importance of transparency but there’s been no action here.
“If you buy a property in New York the people behind the company have to be named.
“The Land Registry in the UK should make sure that everybody who buys a property should be named.”
Khan is hoping to win the race to become mayor on May 5th against his main rival super rich Tory Zac Goldsmith. One the same day Scotland, Wales and local councils in England also go to the polls, in a major test of Corbyn’s leadership.
