UK Freezes $120 Mln Worth Of Assets Suspected Of Originating From Foreign Bribery - NCA

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published August 15, 2019 | 11:14 AM

The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen eight bank accounts with assets worth a record 100 million pounds ($120 million) on suspicion that they were obtained through bribery and corruption in another country, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2019) The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) has frozen eight bank accounts with assets worth a record 100 million pounds ($120 million) on suspicion that they were obtained through bribery and corruption in another country, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The NCA has been granted freezing orders on eight bank accounts containing a total of more than �100 million, which is suspected to have derived from bribery and corruption in an overseas nation," the agency said.

The agency said it would further investigate the funds.

"If found to be derived from - or intended for use in - unlawful conduct, the NCA will seek to recover the money," the statement read.

The account freezing orders were issued by Westminster Magistrates Court on August 12 and represent the largest amount of money frozen at NCA's request.

The agency added that it had already confiscated more than 400,000 pounds in frozen accounts of an unnamed Moldovan national and the niece of Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this year.

The NCA has the right to request information on the origin of funds or real estate worth over 50,000 pounds held by foreign individuals in the United Kingdom. If owners fail to provide a satisfactory explanation, their assets and property might be frozen or seized.