Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

UK bank accounts frozen over 'oligarch links'

UK bank accounts frozen over 'oligarch links'

A judge has frozen UK bank accounts operated by a British businessman amid allegations they are linked to one of Russia's most controversial oligarchs.

Accounts linked to Graham Bonham-Carter, second cousin of actress Helena, and part of the extended famous family, were put on hold on Friday.

National Crime Agency investigators believe the accounts were being used to help Oleg Deripaska avoid sanctions.

It is alleged Mr Bonham-Carter manages property on behalf of the oligarch.

Granting the order, Westminster Magistrates Court has given the National Crime Agency six months to investigate the accounts, in one of the first public court moves against an oligarch since the Ukraine crisis began.

Mr Bonham-Carter's lawyers have been contacted for comment. There is no suggestion anyone else in the Bonham-Carter family is being investigated by the NCA.

Who is Oleg Deripaska?
Mr Deripaska (left) pictured with President Putin in 2014


Oleg Deripaska is one of the richest men associated with President Putin - having made billions from his stake in Russia's aluminium industries.

He's been subjected to US sanctions since 2018 - but is not under any sanctions in the UK.

He first became widely known in the UK in 2008, when it emerged he had been involved in talks over a donation to the Conservative Party via George Osborne. The donation was never made - but the story triggered a huge row at the time about links between British politicians and Russia's elites.

Mr Bonham-Carter is described, on his Linkedin profile, as the director of a company that runs private homes and estates.

Andrew Chadwick, a National Crime Agency investigator, told Westminster Magistrates Court that it wanted to freeze five bank accounts associated with Mr Bonham-Carter, of Surrey, to allow Mr Chadwick to investigate suspected links to Oleg Deripaska.

"The application is in respect of account-freezing orders for several bank accounts, held by Graham Bonham-Carter, of Surrey," said Mr Chadwick.

"My investigation is that he is heavily linked with a well-known Russian oligarch, who is linked to various crimes and criminality and is currently subject to sanctions in the United States.

"My submission is that funds in accounts held by Mr Bonham-Carter may be for the use of, or from, criminal activity."

"Oleg Deripaska is a Russian national subject to sanctions since 2019," said Mr Chadwick.

The officer told the court the US Treasury alleges Mr Deripaska has been involved in money laundering, threatening rivals, wiretapping a government official, extortion, racketeering, ordering a murder and having links to Russian organised crime. Mr Deripaska has called the US allegations and sanctions absurd.

UK and US property links


The court heard that Mr Bonham-Carter had no criminal record and was not under investigation for taking part in organised crime.

He was said to be linked to Mr Deripaska through five properties - two in the United States and three in the UK, all of which are suspected to be ultimately held for the oligarch's benefit.

In London, Mr Chadwick said two properties, worth a combined £50m, were owned by a company based in the British Virgin Islands. That company benefited Mr Deripaska and the 'care-of' mailing address had been to Mr Bonham-Carter.

Hamstone House, near Weybridge in Surrey, is on the market for £18m


The third UK property is Hamstone House, a mansion near Weybridge, Surrey, currently on the market for £18m.

Mr Chadwick said that it was owned by Edenfield Investments and, according to public research, Mr Bonham-Carter's name had appeared on Land Registry documentation for the property when it was purchased. One of the aforementioned London properties had also been the forwarding address for mail to Hamstone House.

The two US properties, in New York and Washington, are owned by a company headed by Mr Bonham-Carter.

"Based on that information [about Mr Deripaska's apparent property] I have reasonable grounds to suspect that the accounts are being held for unlawful conduct," said Mr Chadwick.

"Mr Bonham-Carter has well-documented strong links to Mr Deripaska.

"The suspicion is that property held in the name of Mr Bonham-Carter, or companies that he is linked to, in fact belongs to Mr Deripaska - and the reason for the structure is to mask the true ultimate beneficial owner and to evade the sanctions."

District Judge Tan Ikran approved the National Crime Agency's freezing order for the next six months - allowing the agency time to investigate.

The accounts hold just over £100,000, but the NCA has established that nearly £800,000 has additionally flowed through them since November 2020.

Mr Bonham-Carter will have the chance to make representations to the court at a date to be fixed.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×