UK Banks Freeze $88 Million Of Taliban Funds

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

02 October 2001

The government of the United Kingdom confirmed yesterday that around $88 million in assets linked to the Afghan ruling party has been discovered in the country, and that affected accounts have been frozen as part of the ongoing international drive against terrorism and money laundering.

The Treasury revealed that a number of accounts linked to the Taliban had been frozen, including one at an as yet unnamed European bank headquartered in London. Banks have also been issued by the Bank of England with a list of individuals and organisations suspected to have links with Osama Bin Laden to check against their existing customers.

Gordon Brown, speaking in an interview on Sky Television, said that despite the timing of the announcement, the investigation which resulted in the freezing of the accounts had been underway since the UN Security Council imposed military and economic sanctions on the Taliban authorities late last year.

However, as a direct result of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, Mr Brown has announced that the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) will receive new powers which will allow it to take pro-active action in the fight against criminal money laundering, and the Financial Services Authority will step up information exchange procedures with similar overseas agencies.

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