Silicon Curtain Oliver Bullough - Russian Money in London Permeated its Service Sector & Secured Political Influence
“A toxic flood of dark money has given billionaires and special interests a powerful way to rig the system secretly in their favour…” These are the words of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, ahead of a debate in the US Congress around the Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act. But this phrase could equally be applied to the UK, where Russian Oligarchs and dark money interests have been able to cleanse their ill-gotten gains for decades through the London financial laundromat. Londongrad is the phrase coined to describe the high presence of Russians in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to Russian money in London, permeating its service sector and securing political influence.
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SPEAKER:
Oliver Bullough is a Journalist at the Guardian, GQ, BBC, etc. He writes about financial crime, kleptocracy, and offshore shenanigans (as he calls them). He is best known for his books Let Our Fame Be Great, which was nominated for the Orwell Prize, (and is set in the Caucasus mountains) and The Last Man in Russia, nominated for the Dolman Prize and which won the Overseas Press Club's Cornelius Ryan Award. In later books Oliver has focused on financial crime, Moneyland: Why Thieves and Crooks Now Rule the World and How to Take It Back, Butler to the World: How Britain Helps the World's Worst People Launder Money, Commit Crimes, and Get Away with Anything. Today we’ll combine his twin passions by looking at how Londongrad became the world’s laundromat for corrupt oligarchs to cleanse their money, and attain respectability, influence, and privilege in the West.