LONDON – Great Britain announced its first sanctions under a new global anti-corruption regime, freezing assets and imposing business restrictions on 22 individuals from Russia, South Africa, Sudan and Latin America.
Those sanctioned include 14 people allegedly involved in the diversion of $230 million of Russian state property through a fraudulent tax refund scheme uncovered by lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, Agence France-Presse reported.
Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta and their associate Salim Essa were also placed on the list over a corruption scandal under South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the ban also included several individuals suspected of being involved in serious corruption in Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, including facilitating bribes to drug cartels.
‘Corrosive Effect’
“Corruption has a corrosive effect as it slows development, drains the wealth of poorer nations and keeps their people trapped in poverty,” Raab told the British parliament. “It poisons the well of democracy. The individuals we have sanctioned today have been involved in some of the most notorious corruption cases around the world.”
Great Britain previously followed the European Union’s sanctions regime but since leaving the bloc in January last year has struck out alone with its own policy, Agence France-Presse noted.