Government reforms needed to claim £1bn in extorted assets

Maria Nizzero, a research fellow at the CFCS and author of the report, believes the UK’s asset recovery mechanisms have to move from a “freeze to seize” sanction-based approach to one that achieves “permanent confiscation”. Nizzero and her team suggest that tracing assets and procuring evidence of underlying extortion pose the greatest challenges when dealing with grand corruption and government extortion. "Assets of most individuals under Russian sanctions should already be confiscated. This shows that the UK’s asset recovery mechanisms are not up to the task”, Nizzero said.