伦敦房地产市场成为犯罪分子洗钱天堂

伦敦房地产市场成为犯罪分子洗钱天堂

During the past five years, prime London property has risen in value by 42 percent, and avtivists say it is partly fueled by "dirty" money from the proceeds of crime.

在过去的5年中，伦敦黄金地段价格上涨42％。而反腐活动人士表示这部分是因为犯罪所得“不义之财”刺激的结果。

In a recent British television program titled "From Russia With Cash," anti-corruption activist² Roman Borisovich posed as a Russian minister looking to buy property with stolen money while visiting several real estate agents in central London.

在最近英国一档名为《来自俄罗斯的现金》的电视节目中，反腐败活动人士罗曼·玻里斯维奇假扮俄罗斯政府部长走访伦敦市中心几家房地产中介试图用赃款购买地产。

Speaking to VOA via Skype, he described what happened.

在通过Skype接受VOA的采访时候他描述了这段经历。

“They were all eager to proceed. Even when I was telling them that the money was meant for the procurement³ of drugs and I stole the money,and you know,obviously sick people were deprived of health care. And they could not care less.”

他们迫不及待希望进行交易。即便我告诉他们，我盗用了这些原本是用于采买药物的钱，而且你要明白，显然这剥夺了病患的医疗权利。但他们一点也不在乎。

All the agents suggested buying the properties through offshore⁴ companies to offer anonymity⁵ to the buyer.

而且所有房产经纪人都建议通过海外公司购买房产，这样买方不必留下实名。

One proposed exploiting tax havens⁶ in Cyprus and the British dependency of Jersey⁷ to set up a so-called "shell company."

其中一家还提议利用塞浦路斯及英属泽西岛的避税所设立一家“空壳公司”。

“And this particular agent was volunteering to put us in front of a Jersey financiers to put the trust together, and a Cypriot lawyer to put everything else together.”

“这位特别的经纪人主动要把我们介绍给泽西的融资人，以便设立信托资金，还有一位塞浦路斯的律师愿承担剩下的流程。”

Government figures show 191 billion worth of property in Britain is owned by offshore companies.

政府数据显示境外公司持有英国价值1910亿的房地产。

Speaking on a trip Tuesday to Singapore, Prime Minister David Cameron said most were legitimate⁸ businesses, but accepted there were problems.

周二在访问新加坡时，英国首相戴维·卡梅伦表示绝大多数境外公司是合法公司， 但他认为其中存在问题。

“We need to stop corrupt¹ officials or organized criminals using anonymous⁹ shell companies to invest their ill-gotten gains in London property without being tracked down.”

“我们需要阻止腐败官员和犯罪团伙利用匿名空壳公司，在不被追查的情况下将不义之财注入伦敦房地产行业。”

Analysts¹⁰ say the government has been aware of the laundering¹¹ allegations for years.

分析人士表示政府已意识到多年来这些洗钱的指控。

“This is dirty money, coming from crime, maybe coming from terrorism, so this needs to be dealt with now,”

“这是不义之财，通过犯罪得来，也可能来自恐怖主义，这个问题亟待解决。”

Under British law, real estate agents are to report any suspicions that the cash used to buy property has been obtained through criminal means.

据英国法律，如果购买房地产的现金存在任何通过犯罪手段获得的嫌疑，房产经纪需要进行上报。

 

But, many agents say they should not be expected to detect sophisticated fraud.

 

然而很多房地产经纪表示不应该指望他们来侦破这繁复的欺诈行为。

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

4 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

5 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

6 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

9 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》