How the UK helped Viktor loot Ukraine.
THE sight of Ukraine’s corrupt leadership taking to the skies in private jets has finally focused attention on how the oligarchy led by former president Viktor Yanukovych looted the country for so long, necessitating the bail-out that Europe’s taxpayers will be asked to pay for. Before complaining too loudly, though, we might ask how our own leaders allowed it to happen.
The Eye first reported the staggering scale of corruption routed through UK “limited liability partnerships” (LLPs) in 2012, documenting the millions flowing out of Ukraine, usually via Latvian and Austrian banks.
These corporate vehicles were created by the last government as a sop to accountants who were scared of being sued for dodgy audits post-Enron, and their ownership can be easily concealed behind offshore shell companies. As the last Eye reported, several thousand are owned from Belize and the Marshall Islands and other tax havens – sorry, centres of corporate excellence. The LLPs garner the respectability of British incorporation, at the same time filing patently false accounts at Companies House with impunity.
http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=news&issue=1361
