A Chinese couple has agreed to hand over two luxury homes in Hampstead worth £7million which are suspected to have been acquired through “large-scale” fraud.
Wenjun Tian and Jiangbo Hao will forfeit two luxury homes in the north London suburb, two blocks of student accommodation in Coventry and cash found in several bank accounts as part of a £12million settlement.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) suspects the assets were acquired as a direct result of large-scale financial frauds committed in China and laundering the proceeds abroad, in the UK and in Jersey.
The NCA said Mr Tian and Ms Hao failed to provide any reasonable explanation for the source of funds used to purchase their properties or for the substantial sums of money held in their bank accounts.
The pair denied engaging in any criminal activity whatsoever and the Consent Order does not represent a criminal finding of guilt.
The couple were previously accused of masterminding a £27 billion fraud from which they made £1.2 billion by ripping off banks, the High Court heard.
The Times reported that the couple had denied wrongdoing and claimed they were victims of political persecution by China’s security service.
The newspaper said in August that the NCA had identified at least 39 British bank accounts linked to the couple.
British investigators found the two homes in Hampstead were worth £7 million, with the student housing blocks in Coventry valued at a similar amount.
Rob Burgess, Head of Asset Denial at the NCA, said: “The NCA uses both civil and criminal powers to investigate the provenance of assets in the UK where they are believed to have been acquired with the proceeds of crime, including when the suspected criminality was committed overseas.
“This case involved co-operation with law enforcement colleagues in Jersey and the authorities in China.”
Jonathan Groom, Director of Financial Intelligence Unit Jersey, said: "Collaboration and partnership, in particular with our close colleagues in the NCA, remains of prime importance to Jersey.
“This settlement involved the co-operation and assistance of the Financial Intelligence Unit Jersey in identifying associated offshore assets that form part of the agreement.”
