As first reported by the BBC, the National Crime Agency has written to the Chair of the Treasury Committee of the House of Commons to respond to a series of questions about the NCAs sanctions enforcement efforts to date.
The letter confirms that there have been no convictions obtained under Russian sanctions, or indeed any sanctions regime since the coming into force of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act in January 2021.
The NCA also stated that “a very small proportion” of its workload is sanctions-related, but it would not disclose how many cases had been referred to it by OFSI or any other body, or how many active investigations followed from the 5,600 sanctions-related suspicious activity reports it received in the year 2022-2023.
The letter also stated:
“the NCA's Combatting Kleptocracy Cell (CKC) has delivered over 150 disruptions, which include: asset freezes and forfeiture, taking action against key enablers, and supporting international partners” and then gave a number of specific examples including the successful forfeiture of £780,000 obtained in July 2024.
Another example given was “The arrest of enablers in the regulated sector who support the transactions of corrupt elites“, although no further detail was provided.
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