UK slaps sanctions on Lembergs and his daughter for corruption

LONDON - The UK on Thursday imposed sanctions on eight persons, nationals of various countries accused by authorities of large-scale international corruption, including former Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs and his daughter Liga.

According to a statement released by the British government, Lembergs is or has been involved in serious corruption. The statement alleges that while serving as Ventspils mayor, Lembergs was responsible for serious corruption or was involved in serious corruption in the form of bribery and embezzlement.

According to the British government, Lembergs' daughter Liga aided and abetted serious corruption, as well as benefited financially or in any other way from serious corruption. In particular, Liga Lemberga has been involved in her father Aivars Lembergs' bribery and embezzlement activities.

The sanctions imposed on Lembergs and his daughter include an asset freeze and a travel ban.

The latest UK sanctions also target Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash and his wife Lada Firtash, as well as billionaire Isabel dos Santos, a dual Angolan and Russian national.

The British Foreign Office described Firtash, Lembergs and Santos as "three infamous kleptocrats" and accused them of "stealing their countries' wealth for personal gain".

According to the British Foreign Office, Santos "systematically abused her positions at state-run companies to embezzle at least £350 million, depriving Angola of resources and funding for much-needed development".

Firtash "extracted hundreds of millions of pounds from Ukraine through corruption and his control of gas distribution and has hidden tens of millions of pounds of ill-gotten gains in the UK property market alone," the British Foreign Office says in the statement.

UK sanctions will also be imposed on Denis Gorbunenko, "a UK-based financial ‘fixer’ who enabled and facilitated Firtash's corruption".

"These unscrupulous individuals selfishly deprive their fellow citizens of much-needed funding for education, healthcare and infrastructure - for their own enrichment," said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

"I committed to taking on kleptocrats and the dirty money that empowers them when I became Foreign Secretary and these sanctions mark the first step in delivering this ambition. The tide is turning. The golden age of money laundering is over," Lammy added.

The sanctions have been imposed under the UK’s Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021.